NOS Football•
Ajax lost 2-0 to Real Sociedad in the fifth round of the Europa League. The Basque Country would have had a lot more population for the Amsterdam residents.
Due to the defeat, Ajax drops from second to sixth place in the rankings. The best eight teams qualify directly for the knockout phase of the Europa League.
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Ajax had plenty of chances in the first half in the Reale Arena in San Sebastian. It soon became clear that Real Sociedad is not in great shape against the Amsterdam team. After difficult first minutes, Ajax got the upper hand.
Basque side Real Sociedad is tenth in La Liga and 23rd in the Europa League. The previous European match was lost against the Czech Viktoria Plzen.
At Ajax, Brian Brobbey was in the starting line-up, also due to the absence of the ill Wout Weghorst. Brobbey had a huge chance after five minutes after good work from Kian Fitz-Jim, but shot against the post from close range.
Farioli despite loss in the Basque Country: ‘Positive performance, had many chances’
After that, Ajax remained the most dangerous team. On behalf of La Real, Mikel Oyarzabal had a great chance, but the man who scored the winning goal in the European Championship final between Spain and England shot wide.
It was especially annoying for Ajax that Brobbey was injured after goalkeeper Álex Remiro hit his head.
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Real Sociedad offered much better resistance after the break. More and more often Ajax was pushed back and the Spaniards became dangerous.
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Fitz-Jim hit the post for Ajax, but a Basque goal started to get closer and closer.
After 65 minutes it was a hit. Japanese technician Takefusa Kubo broke through on the right and crossed perfectly for the incoming Ander Barrenetxea, who was able to walk the ball into the empty goal.
Trainer Francesco Farioli replaced Steven Berghuis and Bertrand Traoré in that phase. With substitutes such as Branco van den Boomen, Kristian Hlynsson and Jaydon Banel, Ajax had to hunt for the 1-1.
But Ajax lacked quality for that. And Real Sociedad had Kubo, who dribbled through the Ajax defense shortly before the end and shot the liberating 2-0 behind Remko Pasveer.
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