24th May 2017 Kickoff: 1945hrs Manchester United – Football – Europe – Europa League The final of the Europa League takes place on Wednesday night in Stockholm with Manchester United facing off against Ajax. Much of the attention around this game has focused on United’s quest to win the competition and ensure they qualify for next season’s Champions League – something they have failed to do via their domestic league route. Ajax have no such worries having finished second in the Eredivise behind rivals Feyenoord. Instead, they will be looking to win their first European trophy since 1995.
Now that all domestic commitments are over for Jose Mourinho and his United team it is all about this one match which will go some way to determining how successful his first season in charge has been. With the League Cup secured back in February it may be that, despite failing miserably in the Premier League, United can call this campaign something of a success if they are to be victorious. Their passage to the final has not been smooth whatsoever and that was no more evident than in the last round when they survived a massive scare in the last seconds of their tie against Celta Vigo. Had John Guidetti managed to convert late on then United’s season would already be over. As has been the story all season, despite looking in complete control they were unable to turn that into goals and the negativity shown in the second half of the second leg nearly came back to haunt them. It will be interesting to see how Mourinho approaches this one with it being a one off, 90 minute encounter.
Ajax would have been disappointed to miss out on back to back titles in the Dutch league but they ultimately suffered for a poor start to the season. That may have been expected as the transition from Frank de Boer’s six year reign to Peter Bosz taking over in the summer was bound to have an impact. It appears, though, that Bosz is finding his way in the job if performances and results in the second half of the campaign are anything to go by. Ajax won 14 of their 17 league games after the break as their young stars really started to motor. That is no mean feat considering they were also progressing through the rounds of the Europa League where they accounted for Legia Warsaw, Copenhagen, Schalke and most recently Lyon. The real key to those results has been their form at home as they have won all four home legs, progressing each time in spite of failing to win any of their away legs. Their young squad will now have the challenge of playing against one of the giants of European football on a neutral venue.
Although they may well finish with two trophies in their cabinet and qualification to the Champions League, there will be plenty lining up to suggest that this season has been a failure. When you consider the investment that has been ploughed into this squad then it’s understandable to expect that the club should have made a bigger impact on the Premier League but it has been noticeable for some time that Mourinho had targeted the Europa League has been their best route to the Champions League. The manager has chosen to rotate his squad as a result with everything focused round this one game, which in itself could be seen as a risky approach to take.
Ajax are renowned for their youth development so it’s quite apt that their resurgence on the European scene has been achieved with one of their youngest ever squads. When you recall the team who led them to European glory 22 years ago, it was just the beginning for stars like Davids, Seedorf and Kluivert, and it’s quite remarkable that the last named of that trio’s son will be in line to start tomorrow’s final at the tender age of 18 – the same age which his dad Patrick scored the winning goal against Milan all those years ago. Could Justin repeat such a feat in Stockholm against another of Europe’s giants?
Manchester United v Ajax Betting Tip
The Europa League has been looked down upon by many English teams over the years in preference for the Premier League and even Jose Mourinho has had a pop at it. That will all be forgotten about come Wednesday evening in the Swedish capital as United chase their last chance of participating in next season’s Champions League. Ajax, like many continental clubs, have always treated this competition with the respect it deserves and will be desperate to go all the way in what has been a somewhat surprising progression to this stage.
These two clubs have won 10 major European trophies between them through their rich histories with Ajax edging their most illustrious counterparts 6-4. The Dutch club have also won this particular competition (at least when it was the UEFA Cup), which is something that Manchester United have failed to do. Their manager has, however, having led Porto to a 3-2 win over Celtic back in 2003.
United have been many people’s fancy for this competition from a long way out and come into this game and are favoured by the bookmakers to win the game in 90 minutes. With the resources they have then they should have enough to see off an inexperienced Ajax outfit but Celta and Anderlecht have both shown they are vulnerable. Ajax have a more dynamic attack than both of those clubs so they will see themselves having an opportunity to cause the upset. In terms of a bet the one I really like is for both teams to score in 90 minutes. For all that United’s defence has been lauded at times they have conceded in four of their last six in this competition. Ajax’s real strength is going forward and using their width to get at opponents. They have failed to score in just one of their 14 Europa League games this season and have it within them to do so again on Wednesday.
Both teams to score 11/10 @ Betfair
