Erik ten Hag will not have Quincy Promes available to him for Tuesday night’s game against Valencia. The forward is still suffering from a muscle injury. This is a big loss, according tot he coach. “Quincy is a great player, he’s important in our offense. But it is what it is. Fortunately we have the selection to cover for him.”
Andre Onana didn’t escape Saturday’s training without injury, but it doesn’t appear to be that bad. Ten Hag: “Andre has done an MRI in order to exclude some things. Fortunately, nothing looked amiss. I’m assuming that he’ll be available.”
Ajax only needs one point on Tuesday evening to go through in the Champions League, but last season’s semi-finalist would love to close this part of the season in style. “We always play to win, and that will be the case tomorrow”, said Donny van de Beek, who was at his coach’s side during the press conference. “We’re going to play to our strengths, because you always need to keep in mind what result you need to go through.”
'Valencia and Ajax are both strong teams. Tomorrow, we’ll see who is stronger.”
The away game was won by 0-3, but that game shouldn’t be referenced much. Van de Beek: “That was an amazing evening, to book a result like that against such a good team. But it’s going to be completely different tomorrow. Valencia has a very strong team. We’re going to need to give it everything.”
Ten Hag shares Van de Beek’s opinion. “Valencia and Ajax are strong teams. Tomorrow, we’ll see who is stronger.”
Bad dress rehearsal
Ajax didn’t have a good dress rehearsal for the Champions League game. The national champion lost to Willem II on Saturday, 0-2. Ten Hag: “Obviously you need to process that, and there’s disappointment. But it’s OK. We’ve moved on and are looking forward to a great game.”