Ajax coach John van’t Schip feels Aston Villa are the ‘strongest’ team his side could have faced in the Europa Conference League as Anwar El Ghazi tips the Premier League giants to progress.
Perhaps for the first time in the modern history of both clubs, Aston Villa can realistically claim to be heading into a European clash with Dutch powerhouses Ajax with the ‘favourites’ tag hanging around their neck.
As Villa continue to make serious progress under Unai Emery, a Champions League spot very much on the cards for next season, Ajax have fallen on hard times of late.
The glorious Erik ten Hag era only ended two years back but feels like a lifetime ago now, Ajax a staggering 26 points behind PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie table and counting the very literal cost of a disastrous summer of recruitment under ex-Arsenal chief Sven Mislintat.
Aston Villa will take on Ajax in Europa Conference League
Ajax were unconvincing in Thursday’s last-16 victory over Bodo/Glimt too. Van’t Schip’s side needed a 116th minute winner from Kenneth Taylor in the Arctic Circle.
And El Ghazi, who started his career at Ajax before spending four years at Aston Villa, is backing one of his former employers to dispatch the other as Emery looks to add another European title to his enviable collection.
“My two favourite clubs against each other,” El Ghazi muses. “It will be a tough match for both, but I think Aston Villa is stronger.”
Unai Emery’s side backed to progress
‘Stronger’ than Ajax, perhaps, and maybe the strongest team left in the competition too. That is the view of Van’t Schip, the experienced head coach who was parachuted into the Johan Cruyff Arena following the dismal reign of Maurice Steijn.
“Aston Villa were the strongest in their group,” Van’t Schip argues, Emery’s team putting six goals past an AZ Alkmaar side sitting ahead of Ajax in the Eredivisie standings.
“They play in the Premier League, (fighting) for Champions League football. With Emery, they have an experienced coach. He knows what it means to win cups in Europe.
“It will be a very tough one.”
Villa take on Ajax in Amsterdam on March 7 before welcoming Van’t Schip’s side to Birmingham a week later. First up, however, is a Premier league clash with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.