Too small for the Champions League, but favourites in the Europa League. Ajax Amsterdam PSV Eindhoven and FC Twente resume their European campaign on Thursday. Tough opponents, heady ambitions.

The time when Dutch football was trendsetting or at least competitive in Europe is far behind us. In 2005, PSV were on the brink of the Champions League final but fell short in a spectacular duel with AC Milan. The same year AZ Alkmaar similarly stumbled at the last hurdle. A last minute goal in extra time by Sporting Lisbon meant it was the Portuguese side that went through to the final of the UEFA Cup, the predecessor of the Europa League.

Europa
Since then there has been little Dutch success in international football. “Wintering in Europe” (playing in European tournaments after the winter break in domestic football) now represents the highest pinnacle. In 2006, PSV (again) were the last Dutch side left in the race after New Year. And they disappeared again immediately, at the hands of top French club Olympique Lyon.

Down a notch, in the Europa League, things are a little less bleak. For the past five years there has been at least one Dutch club still going in this European “B”-tournament after the winter, although without that much success. Just like last year, Dutch honour will be defended this spring by FC Twente, PSV and Ajax. Not the greatest names in European football but still capable of springing a surprise. They all start off with an away match.

Twente
National champions FC Twente face off against Rubin Kazan of Russia. Both teams ended third in their group in the Europa league and should theoretically be well-matched. Twente should be confident about the fixture. Top players Bryan Ruiz and Theo Janssen are still there after the winter transfer period. The team are also joint league leader in the domestic competition.

Twente can also take a little heart from the fact that the match has been moved to Moscow. Kazan is much further east and has been suffering bitter weather for weeks, with heavy snows and temperatures far below zero. Mind you, it’s below zero in Moscow too, where the game will take place in the afternoon.

Ajax
Ajax did not make much progress in the Champions League either this season. Its hard-won third place did, however, entitle it to a second chance in the B tournament, where the Amsterdam squad met an old acquaintance, Belgian league leaders Anderlecht. The two teams faced off in the autumn of 2009. The Brussels team was the one to come away with the fondest memories of that encounter. Anderlecht won the match at the Amsterdam Arena (3-1) and at home held Ajax to a draw (1-1). From a technical perspective Ajax does not have much to worry about, but it’s seriously lacking in fighting spirit. In addition, the club saw captain and crowd-puller Luis Suarez leave for Liverpool during the winter recess; a serious bloodletting for the squad. On top of that, Ajax failed to pick up desperately needed points at the weekend in the battle for the national championship. Coach Frank de Boer’s team will have to work really hard to best the Belgians in the upcoming two duels.
 

PSV
Just like Ajax, PSV does not have very far to travel: from Eindhoven to the north of France; about 200 kilometres in all. Its opponents Lille lead the tough French competition, with a healthy five points separating it from the number two. In other words a worthy opponent for PSV, which by the way is still number one in the Dutch Premier League. At the weekend, Fred Rutten’s team rehabilitated itself after a rather mediocre period by convincingly winning the challenging away game against AZ. And yet, the departure of star player Ibrahim Afellay to Barcelona is still cramping their style. Players of Afellay’s calibre are notoriously difficult to replace. On the other hand, PSV stands to benefit a great deal from its Hungarian diamond-in-the rough Balázs Dzsudszák.

Fifty-fifty
Dutch football could do with some good old international lustre. However, in order to make some serious strides in the Europa League, the three teams will have to put in a lot of effort. Their opponents are formidable, but certainly not invincible. The odds of making it to the final 16 are about fifty-fifty for all three teams. With those odds in mind, come March, wouldn’t it be great if at least two of the three Dutch teams were still active in Europe?

(imm & gsh)