jan vertonghen is still getting used to his role as club captain but on the topic of afc ajax's uefa champions league bid, starting against olympique lyonnais, there is no ambiguity.
one of afc ajax's longest serving players at 24, jan vertonghen is still getting accustomed to his new role as captain but on the subject of the dutch titleholders' uefa champions league chances there is no uncertainty.
"we have a lot of faith in the squad, we are only getting stronger," the belgium defender said on the eve of his side's tough group d opener with olympique lyonnais. "this set of players contains a lot of guys with international experience, who know just what to do in situations like this."
they are learning fast. in the ajax first team since 2006, vertonghen had to wait until last term before gaining his first taste of european football's elite club competition proper last term. against the vast experience of real madrid cf and ac milan, ajax fell short; a 2-0 matchday six away victory over the rossoneri in frank de boer's first game in charge left them a point behind the italian side in third.
it was a case of "getting used to it" according vertonghen, who inherited the armband from as roma-bound maarten stekelenburg this summer. the godenzonen return a year older, a year wiser – even if an average age of 24 makes theirs the youngest squad in the competition. as their newly appointed skipper demonstrates, they do not lack maturity.
"at the beginning, as a young player making your way in the first team, you are only concerned about yourself," he said. "as you get older, more experienced, you try to take more responsibility and influence the rest of the team. that is what i try to do. i might not always succeed, but i try to guide those alongside and in front of me to make it easier for the team and myself."
centre-back vertonghen may have to place particular focus on those immediately around him against lyon on wednesday, with ajax keen to halt a run of 11 games without a clean sheet. "obviously that has not escaped us," he said, "but i don't think it's a lack of quality.
"sometimes we are a bit too nonchalant and ought to communicate slightly better. but those are things you can work on and i expect improvement in the upcoming matches." how much ajax have developed as a whole since last season will be revealed on wednesday.
the group d opener finished all square as the visitors withstood some fierce second-half pressure from the dutch champions to earn a valuable point.
olympique lyonnais left amsterdam with a valuable point after holding afc ajax to a goalless draw in the opening match of uefa champions league group d.
ajax initially gained the upper hand, pinning lyon back, but the visitors soon recovered and offered the greatest threat. both bafétimbi gomis and michel bastos could have scored twice but missed the target each time. miralem sulejmani had the clearest opportunity of the opening 45 minutes, heading wide when in plenty of space, but visiting goalkeeper hugo lloris had a busier second half, making a fine save to palm out christian eriksen’s drive as frank de boer's side failed to force the breakthrough.
the dutch champions almost went ahead after only six minutes, derk boerrigter's header from a theo janssen corner hitting the side netting. soon after bakary koné's acrobatic effort went just past the post at the other end after kim källström's free-kick was only half-cleared.
gomis could have opened the scoring minutes later, his attempt from bastos' cross hitting the turf and bouncing over, and the frustration of the lyon no18 was evident when his next effort, again after being set up by the brazilian, skidded wide. the lively bastos, having switched from the left to right flank, then fashioned two openings for himself in quick succession but missed the target on both occasions.
however the best chance of the half came at the other end. kolbeinn sigthórsson's excellent cross from the left found sulejmani unmarked in the box, only for the serbian's diving header to narrowly miss the post. it was bastos again who came close after the restart, but this time kenneth vermeer's outstretched shin deflected his shot behind. as the half wore on ajax managed to take the game to the ligue 1 side, eriksen's clever promptings allowing the amsterdam side to periodically breach the lyon back line.
jan vertonghen might have done better than shoot straight at hugo lloris on the hour, and the french international goalkeeper then made an outstanding one-handed save to deny eriksen. ten minutes later he foiled sulejmani in a one-on-one. next up was substitute vurnon anita, who drilled over the bar from just outside the penalty area.
yet it was lyon who finished stronger, clément grenier curling his shot within a whisker of the top corner and vermeer bravely diving at bastos' feet after he had wriggled through. ajax now face the daunting prospect of a trip to real madrid cf on 27 september, when lyon take on gnk dynamo zagreb in france.
yardımcı hakemler: jan-hendrik salver (ger), mike pickel (ger)
4. hakem: marco fritz (ger)
çizgi hakemleri: babak rafati (ger), robert hartmann (ger)
ajax: kenneth vermeer (gk), gregory van der wiel, toby alderweireld, jan vertonghen (c), miralem sulejmani (dk. 85 lorenzo ebecilio), christian eriksen, kolbeinn sigthórsson (dk. 81 dmitri bulykin), siem de jong, nicolai boilesen, theo janssen (dk. 70 vurnon anita), derk boerrigter
yedekler: jasper cillessen (gk), eyong enoh, andré ooijer, daley blind
teknik direktör: frank de boer (ned)
lyon: hugo lloris (gk), bakary koné, dejan lovren, kim källström, clément grenier, michel bastos, anthony réveillère (c), bafétimbi gomis (dk. 85 ishak belfodil), jimmy briand, aly cissokho, maxime gonalons (dk. 90 gueïda fofana)
1. real madrid cf...1...1...0...0...1...0...1...3 2. olympique lyonnais...1...0...1...0...0...0...0...1 3. afc ajax...1...0...1...0...0...0...0...1 4. gnk dinamo zagreb...1...0...0...1...0...1...-1...0
