Thursday, 25th October, 2012
Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen has pinpointed Manchester City’s decision not to play as zonally as Real Madrid for helping the Dutch champions put them to the sword at the Amsterdam ArenA.
Ajax were able to claim a 3-1 win over Roberto Mancini’s men after turning the screw on the English side in the second half and cementing a victory which seemed to be against the odds.
Frank de Boer’s men were shaping up to be the "Group of Death" whipping boys, sitting bottom of the section before the match started, having already lost away to Borussia Dortmund and at home against Real Madrid.
But now Ajax are suddenly back in the race to qualify, while Manchester City’s job looks exceedingly difficult.
And, the way the Citizens set up helped Ajax to claim victory, according to highly-rated midfielder Eriksen.
"Manchester City played a different game to Madrid, less zonally, and that was better for our playing philosophy", Eriksen said after the match.
relatedNewsStory"We were able to find more space between their lines and made good use of that."
Nevertheless, Eriksen expects a tough challenge when his side travel to the Etihad Stadium for the second of their double-header of games against Manchester City, with the Danish star well aware that the victory in Amsterdam will count for nothing if it is not followed up properly.
"It will be more difficult in Manchester in two weeks – they now know how we play – but we’ll be ready, and we’re really looking forward to it."
The pressure is set to be firmly on the Citizens however, who know that they were expected to put up a better showing than they managed in the group stage last season and who are now seriously looking at the possibility of finishing bottom of their group – something which would deprive Roberto Mancini’s men of European football altogether after Christmas.
