For around a month and a half, the only question was when Ajax would become champions. But after a slump, everything is suddenly up in the air again. Last Sunday was symbolic of the emotions in Amsterdam.
Some Ajax Amsterdam fans probably took Monday off work ahead of the weekend so they could celebrate their club’s 37th championship in style. But “their championship day,” which started so promisingly, ended in a nightmare.
More than two and a half hours before kick-off of the home game against Nijmegen, numerous fans gathered at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Not because they wanted to get to the stadium early, but to watch the game together. In addition to winning their own game, Ajax needed their closest rivals PSV Eindhoven to lose at Feyenoord in order to secure the title early.
From the record champions’ point of view, the game initially went according to plan: after ten minutes, Ajax’s arch-rivals Rotterdam were already leading 2-0, sparking celebrations in Amsterdam. At around 2:42 p.m., a good two hours before the Ajax game, the fans started chanting “Champions olé, olé!” and set off red fireworks. What could possibly go wrong?
With the score at that point in Rotterdam, the players entered the Johan Cruijff ArenA. “Then we said: Focus on yourselves, think about your own game. But of course you notice what’s going on,” said Wout Weghorst.
Ajax players nervous
He and his teammates must have been informed during their own preparations that PSV had turned the game around in the ninth minute of stoppage time. Even if no one from the staff had told them, they could have guessed from the fans’ reaction. They were visibly frustrated and shocked.
The fear of throwing away the championship was also reflected on the pitch as the game went on. Ajax played confidently until around the hour mark, but then they collapsed. “Football is also a mental game. When it was 0-0 for a long time, we got nervous. We took more and more risks, and after NEC’s first goal, the pitch opened up for them,” explained Jordan Henderson. The result: Nijmegen scored two more goals.
Weghorst’s reaction showed just how much the defeat hurt. The long-time Bundesliga striker fought back tears, as if Ajax had thrown away the championship. “I had imagined this day very differently,” said the 32-year-old.
But despite three games without a win in a row, which saw their lead melt from nine points to one, the “Sons of God” still have everything in their own hands. However, they cannot afford another slip-up against Groningen on Wednesday and Twente on Sunday. Given the palpable fear that is circulating, this will be a difficult task.