After playing Arsenal at home, Ajax ushered in the 23rd round of the Eredivisie at the weekend.

Ajax take on Utrecht away.

Utrecht are close to Amsterdam just south of Amsterdam, but this time a number of players including Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic were not included in the squad.

Everyone knows that Ajax is accumulating strength for the Champions League, after all, in the Eredivisie, Ajax has a lead of seven points, has seized the opportunity on the road to winning the title, and is fully capable of such a two-line layout.

But to everyone's surprise, the expected PSV Eindhoven took the opportunity to close the gap between them did not happen, and Hiddink's side lost 1-2 at home to Roda JC, conceding two goals in less than 20 minutes of the first half, and then it was Heserink who saved face for PSV Eindhoven.

1-2, the home defeat greatly demoralized PSV Eindhoven.

In the other game, which was played almost at the same time, Ajax lost 1-0 at Utrecht, Vermaelen started the game and played in a decent manner at the back, but could not prevent the defeat from the side.

And the problems exposed by Ajax are still attacking, without Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart, the two tiger generals, and without Yang Yang, a gold medal substitute, Ajax's offensive weakness is exposed.

Although defeated, after this round of matches, Ajax is still seven points ahead of second-place PSV Eindhoven, fourteen points ahead of third-place AZ Alkmaar and fourth-place Feyenoord, and still firmly holds the initiative to win the championship.

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A week later, the twenty-fourth round of the Eredivisie.

Ajax take on Waalwijk away.

Ronald Koeman continued to play as a substitute and Anastasia started again in place of Ibrahimovic in a trident with Scola and Mitoya, but the attacking duo was unable to break the Waalwijk back of the net.

In the end, Ajax relied on an own goal in the 39th minute and the opponent retreated 1-0 away.

In the last round of sluggish performance, the much-criticized Eindhoven ushered in a big explosion this round.

Guus Hiddink's side scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half through Bouma and Van Bommel and in the last four minutes of the second half through Park Ji-sung and Kezman in a 4-0 win over Utrecht.

However, due to Ajax's narrow victory in this round, the gap between the two teams is still seven points.

On the contrary, Feyenoord, who drew 2-2 at home to Heerenveen in this round, began to fall behind third-placed AZ Alkmaar.

With substitutions and rotations in two consecutive league rounds, Ronald Koeman's mind and Ajax's goals are already clear.

A 3-2 win at home to Arsenal was a pyrrhic victory, giving Arsenal two away goals and requiring Ajax to keep their best at Highbury Stadium or it would be difficult to qualify from the road.

After all, it's hard to get two away goals at Highbury Stadium.

As a result, defending has become the most important thing for Ajax to visit Highbury.

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In order to better prepare for the second leg of the Champions League last-16 knockout round, Ajax flew directly from Amsterdam to London the day before the game, after training, and checked into the hotel before having dinner.

After a night's rest, the next morning was in the hotel's gym for a simple workout.

In the afternoon, head coach Ronald Koeman gathered everyone in the conference room for a pre-match tactical meeting.

Between these two knockout legs, Arsenal also played two games, one was the 27th round of the Premier League, Arsenal beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 at Highbury Stadium, scoring twice in the opening four minutes, goals from Pire and Thierry Henry.

Last weekend, Arsenal played Portsmouth in the FA Cup quarter-finals, with goals from Thierry Henry, Ljungberg and Kolo Toure in the first half, and goals from Thierry Henry and Ljungberg in the second half, as Arsenal thrashed Portsmouth 5-1.

"Looking at these two games, I don't need to say more about Arsenal's strong attack, everyone knows it, but I want to remind everyone to pay attention to the timing of the goal."

With Ronald Koeman's words, the screen behind him played a conspicuous Arsenal goal time in two games.

'There are two very obvious characteristics, first, the first 20 minutes are very crucial, especially at Highbury Stadium, where many Premier League teams such as Charlton, Manchester City and Middlesbrough have fallen under 20 minutes this season, and after taking the lead, the most Arsenal have done is to slowly control the game.

"The second point, after Arsenal scores, they tend to take advantage of the victory, play Charlton, score two goals in the second and fourth minutes of the opening game, play Portsmouth, the first goal happened in the 26th minute, but then in the 44th and 45th minutes, the 50th and 57th minutes, Arsenal scored consecutive goals."

Ronald Koeman said this, and everyone present is already very clear.

This is an extremely formidable opponent, and their offense is like a shark that smells blood, and once they catch the hole, they are likely to chase and fight until they crush the opponent to the ground.

'So, here, I have to tell you that the first 20 minutes are very, very crucial, the Gunners are a team that is very good at solving the battle in the first 20 minutes, we have to be able to hold those 20 minutes, and the most important thing is to defend on the two wings and at the edge of the box.

With that, Luther Carroll cut into the next PPT, which was the coaching staff's prediction of Arsenal's starting lineup.

The goalkeeper is Lehmann, the backline is Ashley Cole, Campbell, Chloe Toure and Lauren, the midfield is Pire, Edu, Vieira and Ljungberg from left to right, while the double striker is Thierry Henry and Bergkamp.

There are two very obvious differences between the second leg and the first leg, that is, the veteran Bergkamp is back in the starting line-up, and Reyes, who did not perform well in the first leg, should be substituted, after all, Bergkamp is more familiar and knows Ajax better.

Another difference is the return of left wing-back Ashley Cole from injury, Klich has performed well in this period, but Ashley Cole is the world's top left wing-back, and his return will be a considerable improvement on Arsenal's left attack.

Gilberto Silva has also recovered from injury, but on the one hand, Edu has been in very good form recently, and on the other hand, it is also for the sake of safety, and it is unlikely that Wenger will start the Brazilian midfield.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Wenger is in danger.

'It's a very good one on the left, on the one hand we have to have a speed player to keep Thierry Henry, but at the same time we also need to pay attention to Pire and Ashley Cole in the back, and the combination between Ljungberg and Bergkamp on the right is also very tacit, which is also something we have to pay attention to.

'But the most important thing is the front of our penalty area, the first goal conceded in the first leg was conceded in this area, and if Edu starts again, Arsene Wenger will definitely want to make a fuss in this area.'

Yang Yang sat below, heard the head coach's analysis, and nodded silently.

Ajax have been practising their 4231 style of play for some time now, and this formation played well in the first leg, with the two midfielders protecting the defence and the edge of the penalty area very well, and even bringing two wide players back if necessary.

If there are no accidents, Ajax should still start the second leg with 4231.

Unlike the first round of grabbing the start, the start of the second round is to seek stability and require defense, Yang Yang's defensive ability is relatively average, although he can run, but the head coach will definitely not waste his physical energy and energy on defense.

Ajax's squad has more players who are good at defending, but there are few attacking players on the right.

There will be no big movement at the back, Trabelsi is still good at defending Henry in the first leg, Maxwell will continue to start, Ajax's two full-backs are still very strong, and the central defenders are still a combination of Heitinga and Escude.

The team played with a two-man midfield, which was definitely Galasek and Frenkie de Jong, and in the front, Ibrahimovic was certainly the starting centre-forward, and he was also the most dangerous player in the Ajax squad for the Arsenal defence.

But the two wings on the left and right, as well as the forward behind the center forward, Yang Yang couldn't guess.

He had only a hunch that he would come off the bench again.

Sure enough, Ronald Koeman quickly announced the team's starting line-up after introducing the team's game strategy and how to deal with unexpected situations in the game.

It's basically exactly the same as Yang Yang guessed, but on the left side, the coaching staff chose Wesley Sonk, and the Belgian striker's pace is still quite threatening, especially when it comes to counter-attacks.

In the position on the right side, the coaching staff chose Scola, and the only thing that surprised Yang Yang was the forward position, and the coaching staff chose Sneijder.

This also means that the team's captain Van der Vaart will be a substitute like Yang Yang.

After listening to the starting list announced by the coaching staff, many people turned their heads to look at Van der Vaart, but found that the expression on the latter's face did not show the slightest anger or dissatisfaction, which made the gloating Ibrahimovic a little bored and Yang Yang felt very strange.

Could it be that he already knew?

Only this explanation is reasonable, otherwise how could he not be angry?

"At the end of the day, I want to tell you that no matter what happens tomorrow night, I'm very proud of you, and I've always believed that you're a great bunch of players and every single one of you is good."

"The fact that our team has come to this day and is here in London is a testament to your extraordinary, and I sincerely hope that in tonight's final, everyone here will do their best to contribute to themselves and to this team."

'We're down on the ground right now, but I've always believed that we can get out of Highbury.'

Ronald Koeman's mobilization and encouragement won a round of applause in the dressing room.

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