Heitinga looks back fondly on the match against Chelsea in 2019. "That was a real spectacle. I was coach of Ajax U19 at the time and was sitting in the stands with my team. Ajax could really compete at the highest level then, and they showed that in that match. It was a wonderful evening."
During his playing career, Heitinga faced Chelsea twelve times in total. "I have fond memories of the matches at Stamford Bridge. I fought my duels with Drogba and played against teams with players like Lampard and Terry. I told Youri Baas on the way here that I once scored a penalty in a shoot-out in this stadium. After scoring, I walked back and tried to get under Ashley Cole’s skin. He ended up missing, so that was quite funny."
The Ajax coach is fully aware of the strength of the London side. "We have looked very closely at our game plan. Chelsea are a very strong opponent and it’s no coincidence that they are the Club World Cup winners. I know the Premier League and Chelsea’s strength very well. We must demand the utmost from ourselves."
Measuring up against Europe's best
After a morning training session at sports complex De Toekomst, Ajax travelled to the English capital on Tuesday afternoon. Following their Club World Cup victory, Chelsea are competing at the top of the Premier League. In the League Phase of the UEFA Champions League, the opponents made a slow start with a defeat against Bayern Munich (3-1), but bounced back with a 1-0 win over Benfica.
Despite defeats to Inter and Marseille and with the tough test against Chelsea ahead, Youri Baas is enjoying the European nights. "I still really enjoy the Champions League. It’s not as if we’ll go onto the pitch tomorrow reluctantly. It’s the stage where you can show yourself as a player and measure yourself against the best in Europe."
Baas briefly reflected on the defeat against AZ during the press conference. "I would have liked us to show more resilience in the closing stages. The disallowed goal didn’t help, of course — otherwise we could have got the crowd behind us even more."
Heitinga agreed with his defender’s words. "You always want to get a result. I’ll be satisfied tomorrow if I see the same quality and patterns during the match that I see in training. There, we play our combinations and are dominant on the ball, but of course there’s far less pressure. Tomorrow we can once again show it at the very highest level."
Heitinga expects a dominant Chelsea. "It's clear that they’re a strong team, which is why it’s very important that we execute our own plan. Of course, it’s also a question of which players they’ll select tomorrow. They’re a side with great strength, positional rotations and full-backs who move into midfield."
Heitinga is looking forward to seeing former Ajax player Jorrel Hato again. "It says a lot about Chelsea that Jorrel is getting so few minutes. With us, he was one of the best players, but here he barely plays. Their squad is so deep that they can rotate constantly. Last year I faced them with Liverpool. You have to stay alert for the full ninety minutes — they have quality in every position."
Baas is looking forward to facing the current fifth-placed team in England. "Especially after a defeat, it’s great to have a match like this to prove yourself and bounce back." The defender is also enthusiastic about his partnership with his Japanese team-mate in central defence. "The cooperation with Ko Itakura is very good. We both speak English well, so that helps."
Full of praise
Heitinga is full of praise for Baas’s development. "I’ve known Youri since the youth teams, and we had many conversations back then. He’s a very intelligent player — a lad with drive, who reads the game well. He can still develop further in his communication and in being decisive in pressing, but I want to give him a big compliment for how he has developed, also as a left-sided central defender."
Finally, Heitinga expressed his anticipation for the support of two thousand travelling Ajax fans. "It's a single match and we’ve come here to get a result. We’ll need the fans with us tomorrow."
