Alfred Schreuder has all but written off Ajax’s chances of progressing to the Champions League knockout phase after last night’s 6-1 hammering at the hands of Napoli.
The Eredivisie champions were reduced to 10 men in the 73rd minute when Dusan Tadic was given his matching orders but they were already trailing 5-1 at the Johan Cruyff Arena at that point.
Mohammed Kudus had opened the scoring for the hosts before goals from Giacomo Raspadori, Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Piotr Zielinski put Napoli in charge at the break.
Things continued to go from bad to worse in the second half as Raspadori, Khvixha Kvaratskheila and Giovanni Simeone added to the tally to compound Ajax’s misery.
And Schreuder admits the fallen Dutch giants simply cannot compete with Luciano Spalletti’s side and Liverpool, who currently sit first and second respectively in Group A, leaving Ajax facing a shootout with Rangers to drop into the Europa League by securing third place.
He said: “If you look at Napoli and Liverpool you will see they are a size too big for us. That is obvious.
“I don’t think we are good enough as a team at the moment.”
Ajax hammered Rangers 4-0 in their opening Champions League game last month but were brought back down to earth by a 2-1 defeat at out-of-sorts Liverpool.
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) October 4, 2022
And with their dominance in the Eredivisie also being tested by league leaders AZ Alkmaar, Schreuder is struggling to live up to the standards set by predecessor Erik ten Hag.
Ajax return to league action at FC Volendam on Saturday before heading to Naples for Wednesday’s rematch with Spaletti’s men.
But Schreuder is not confident about his team’s chances of transforming their fortunes in Europe.
The Dutcman, 49, added: “If you’re realistic, it gets harder and harder [to get out of the group]. We have to win there next week.
“We will have to take a different approach because this is unworthy of Ajax. This is unacceptable. This is unworthy of Ajax.”
Did you know?
Napoli scored six goals in European competition for the first time last night, becoming the first Italian side to do so in a Champions League away match.
They are also the first Italian team score six or more goals in any Champions League game since Juventus beat Olympiacos 7-0 in the group stage in December 2003.
Ajax conceded six goals for the first time in any European match. They are without a home win against a side from Italy in Europe in their last 12 such matches (drawn six and lost six).
Napoli have picked up maximum points from their first three Champions League group stage matches in a single season for the first time in the competition. They have never scored as many goals (13) or conceded fewer (two) after three group games.
Napoli have scored 13 goals in three Champions League fixtures this season — four more than any other side in the competition.
Ajax ace Kudus has scored in each of his three Champions League appearances this season.
Source: Livescore