Blind: 'At this level, one moment can be fatal'

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Blindinterview1280

Daley Blind was visibly distraught after the 0-1 defeat to Benfica in the UEFA Champions League. The defender saw how Ajax broke down against the scrappy Portuguese. "We will never play like Benfica."

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The fact that Ajax has often stumbled over these kinds of opponents in the history of the Champions League was not really on the left back’s mind. "If you want to take the game to them and the ball won’t go in, then the scenario changes. They call it Murphy's law, don't they? I couldn't say much about the game, but we are left empty handed."

Benfica looked for that one chance and got what they were looking for. Darwin Núñez headed in the ball from a free kick. "The only thing they have tried is looking for corners and free kicks. Today shows again how important it is to be organized at those moments. Well, if you dominate like that and you don’t score, you only have yourselves to blame."

After a fantastic group stage with six victories, the eighth final of the biggest European club competition is the final station. That got a laugh out of Blind, "I think we deserved more, just like in other years. People want to see the football that we play. But we don't score points with that. This is top football. At this level, matches are decided at very small moments."

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