Ajax started the season in style by beating AZ Alkmaar 3-2 in the Dutch Super Cup. After a first half they dominated, but could not create any clear chances, Ajax fell two goals behind. They woke up though and bounced back with two goals in the last 20 minutes, before De Jong’s header secured the club’s eighth Super Cup.
After a comfortable Eredivisie opener against Roda (a 3-0 win), Ajax then lost 3-2 in Alkmaar, but had been leading 2-1 when Van Rhijn was shown a red card. The talented right-back is not the only regular performer that Ajax will miss against Feyenoord, as captain De Jong has been sidelined for six weeks due to a collapsed lung. Positive news for De Boer has come from the flanks, with Viktor Fischer improving his performances on the left, while on the right Krkic has enjoyed a good impact, in a role in which last season the Ajax coach deployed no less than six players.
When Ronald Koeman joined Feyenoord in the summer of 2011, the Rotterdam side were a declining club whose maximum aim was a spot in the Europa League. Koeman led Feyenoord to third place in 2012 and then to second in 2013. And that is the reason why the coach commented in July “this season will be the most difficult since I have been here”. To do better means bringing back the title, which Feyenoord have not won since 1999.
The club have worked to keep the team which raced for the title last term together. Technical director Martin van Geel has secured contract extensions for key players, including Jordy Clasie and Stefan de Vrij, and rising talents Tonny Vilhena and Jean-Paul Boetius. Feyenoord have also definitively bought striker Graziano Pelle, who had been in Rotterdam on loan from Parma.
Ajax vs Feyenoord August 18, 2013
When: Sunday 18th August, 2013, at 11:30 UK TimeWhere: Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
