While the UEFA Europa League is only the second biggest international stage in European football, we had an absolute big-name match-up going on on Thursday in Ajax against Galatasaray.
Two of the biggest clubs in Europe facing off should always be an interesting matchup, but the situation before the game was not equal for both teams.
While Ajax are undoubtedly the biggest Dutch football club, they have struggled in recent years and lost their firm grasp on the Eredivisie.
This season, they are once again only the hunter.
They are currently second behind PSV Eindhoven and are trying to regain their glory days in their first season under young Italian manager Francesco Farioli.
Gala, on the other hand, is once again the dominant force in Turkish football.
After winning the Turkish Süper League in an incredibly dominant fashion last season, they currently lead the league again.
After 20 matchdays, they are still the only unbeaten team in Turkey, having won 17 of those games.
The implications for the game were rather simple.
With a win, Gala had a very good chance of qualifying for the top eight of the group stage and advancing directly to the round of 16, while Ajax’s chances of reaching the top eight were rather slim from the start.
In this post-match analysis and tactical analysis, we will take a look at how the teams shaped up, what tactics they used and how the game developed the way it did in the end.
Ajax Vs Galatasaray Formations & Players Used
In terms of formations, Ajax have gone back to their roots under Farioli this season and returned to the 4-3-3 formation that has shaped the identity of the club for many years since Cryuff implemented it.
In goal, captain Pasveer started the game with a back four consisting of Bass and Sutalo as the two centre-halves, Hato on the left side, and Gaaei on the right side in front of him.
In midfield, former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was the lone holding midfielder, flanked by the two Ajax academy products, Kian Fitz-Jim and Taylor, who played as the central midfielders in Farioli’s 1-2-shaped midfield.
In attack, youngster Mika Godts and returning Bertrand Traoré played on the wings, Traoré on the right and Godts on the left.
They were supposed to provide service for the lone striker, Brian Brobbery, in the centre of the attack.
Mika Godt had to be substituted early in the game, so Chuba Akpom was playing in that position for most of the game.
Gala and Okan Buruk‘s captain also started the goal with Fernando Muslera playing the match.
In their 4-2-3-1 formation, Kutlu played left-back, Ayhan played on the right-defensive side, and Bardakci and Sánchez formed the centre-back pairing in the middle of the defensive line.
Their double pivot once again consisted of former Arsenal star Lucas Torreira and Gabriel Sara, with Toreira being the more defensive of the two midfielders.
In attacking midfield, Dries Mertens started as the number 10, with Yilmaz and Akgün playing to the right and left of him.
Up front, superstar signing Victor Osimhen was starting the game for Buruk and shouldering the hopes of a Top-8 finish for Gala.
Ajax Efficient Build-Up
In the club DNA of Ajax Amsterdam, the team wants to dominate possession of the ball and with their games in a suffocating way for their opponents.
However, Francesco Farioli is a coach who does not value possession as highly as other Ajax managers have in the past.
In this game, Ajax merely had 39% possession of the ball, which was obviously facilitated by their scoring the first goal early in the game and having a two-goal lead after just under an hour.
However, the team wasn’t too keen on really dominating possession in this game.
Ajax still had a very clear plan in their build-up play to progress the ball quickly and efficiently, shaping the first stage of the game on Thursday.
Here, we can see their basic structure while building up their play from the back.
Ajax are using a rather basic shape and keeping their 4-3-3 formation in these situations.
Goalkeeper Pasveer is heavily involved in the first line of their passing game.
With their back four keeping their shape here, the team creates width in their build-up and forces the Gala wingers to account for those players near the sideline.
Henderson, in the middle of the field, is the only Ajax non-defender who actually drops back and tries to receive the ball.
Still, as we can see in this situation, Gala were very keen on closing the passing lanes towards the former English international.
But with Pasveer involved, Ajax create a 6v5 situation here for them and force Gabriel Sara to step up in the press of Gala, which opens up the next stage for them.
With their 3v2 in the centre, Gala could never get pressure onto the centre-backs or Pasveer because their two strikers in, Mertens and Osimhe,n had no chance of pressing the ball there.
This opened up many opportunities for Sutalo and Baas to make line-breaking passes right through the first line of pressure.
Ajax’s near-sided midfielder always dropped into the half-space, while the other midfielder pushed up the field into the attacking line.
With Sara caught out of position, Fitz-Jim is open in the half-space, and with no pressure on Sutalo, he is able to easily pass to him.
With their midfield being played through easily, Gala are struggling to find assignments against the ball and is not in very good shape here.
While Ajax could not get Fitz-Jim to turn here, they played through the midfield with two easy passes.
From there on, they now have four players in their attacking line, making runs behind the high defensive line of Gala.
Fitz-Jim is able to play an easy through ball to Traoré, who is now through on goal and has multiple passing options in the centre.
Ajax exploited these situations very often, punishing Gala early in the game and taking the lead early in the game.
Gala’s Bruising Attack
In the end, even though Ajax won the game 2-1, the team who was way more aggressive on the attacking end was Gala, but they obviously needed to be after going down early in the game and then conceding the second goal just before the hour mark.
In the end, Gala had 29 shots and 2.7 expected goals, but only the late Osimhen goal to show for it.
While the expected goal value seems rather high and was way higher than Ajax’s 1.6 xG, with 29 shots, it still comes out as under 0.1 expected goals per shot.
The team struggled to create high-quality opportunities, with only nine out of 29 shots being on goal.
Here, we can see Gala with the ball after they concede the first goal.
There are multiple things that did not go well for Gala in these situations, and we will take a look now.
For starters, there are three players on the far side of the pitch.
Still, only one of them is in a position to receive the ball, and playing a crossing switch here is nearly impossible.
Therefore, Ajax easily has the numbers advantage on that side of the field.
Another thing is that Torreira is dropping back into the defensive line even though Ajax are not pressing them that early and, therefore, just takes away another option to pass the ball into midfield.
Gabriel Sara is also dropping back here, leaving Ajax with only two strikers to account for with their four defenders and a dropped-back holding midfielder, which makes it easy for them to defend in this situation.
Overall, Gala lacked the intensity and determination in these types of situations to actually play through the block of Farioli’s Ajax and, overall, just did not find enough solutions to come back into the game earlier.
Their only solution was something different than short passing.
While they only had two strikers up front, these two players were Osimhen and Mertens.
They were very high-class individuals, and it showed.
Instead of playing the passing game, Mertens always dropped back a bit and dragged one centre-back out of position, with Osimhen immediately making runs into that space.
Buruk tried to use the Ajax man orientation in the defensive line against them, and it worked to a certain extent; Osimhen was able to get to many of these long balls, and Gala were able to chip away at the Ajax defenders with many physical duels, but Ajax defended well overall and was in a better position for the second balls most of the time.
Therefore, it was no surprise that despite having many shots, Gala did not score a goal until stoppage time.
Intensity & Counterattack
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Ajax might not have been dominant in this game with the ball, but their intensity and determination were way better than what Gala had to show.
Farioli had his men fight for every inch and be very consequent in their defensive actions, and it showed, as Gala were forced into bad shots and duels in the box most of the time.
With their defensive stand, they managed to wear out Gala to a certain extent and managed to get off counterattacks multiple times.
With just 12 shots, they did not have an awful amount of shots this game, but they managed to create 1.6 expected goals and six shots on target, which was just way more efficient than what Gala did.
Once again, their attack starts with their goalkeeper, Pasveer, collecting the ball after a Galatasaray set piece and instantly looking downfield to make a quick play and initiate a counterattack.
The Gala players try to stop him half-hearted here, but he still makes the throw to the right side, where two Ajax players already make their runs towards the Galatasaray half.
From there on, Gala are moving backwards, yes, but their transition from attack to defence is just way too slow.
While they have the numbers, they had a couple of seconds’ headstart after Pasveer collected the cross, and still, the Ajax player managed to beat out every Gala defender.
Their left defensive side is completely exposed, and the two remaining Gala defenders are in a 2v2 situation in the centre of the field against two pacey Ajax attackers.
They must defend with their faces towards their own goal, which is impossible.
Now, the cross comes in. Brobbey is making a run towards the near post, and Gala just can’t get the ball away far enough from the goal.
The now uncontrolled ball is bouncing in the box, and while Gala have the numerical advantage, the four players at the edge of the box all stopped their runs and did not show the determination that Fitz-Jim now shows.
This resulted in the Ajax youngster winning the loose ball and scoring the goal that decided the game in the end.
Conclusion
Looking back at the game, Ajax may not have been the better team in terms of attacking output, but they showed way greater intensity and determination than their Turkish counterpart, and it won them the game.
Farioli improved the former giant’s defence, which won them this game.
Their build-up was very efficient and prepared very well.
Still, Gala were the team that had way more interest in actually attacking but just struggled with creating high-percentage opportunities.
Buruk’s men showed the will to come back into the game and desperately tried to score goals, but they just never managed to make the right decisions at the right time and, therefore, lost this game.
Both teams now have to go to the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League, and given their form so far this season, they should have decent chances to advance in the competition.
Ajax will face off against Royal Union Saint-Gilloise, while Galatasaray will meet another Dutch team in AZ Alkmaar.
