Ajax Amsterdam feels disadvantaged by eleven corona cases before the Champions League game

Ajax captain Dusan Tadic (left) usually shows full physical effort

Photo: AP Photo / Martin Meissner

On Monday evening, a plane took off from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport for Copenhagen - on board were the three professional footballers Andre Onana, the goalkeeper of Ajax Amsterdam, Ajax captain Dusan Tadic and his midfield colleague Ryan Gravenberch.

It is not yet entirely clear whether the three will start their flight to Denmark in vain or whether they can actually support their team in the Champions League at FC Midtjylland in Herning (9 p.m. Dazn, live ticker SPIEGEL) that evening.

Just as much is unclear in this matter anyway.

The Ajax trio are among those who had to stay in the Netherlands the day before after positive corona tests by Uefa.

Since then, the jumble around the game in Group D has been perfect.

And of course the first bad jokes about Ajax as a disinfectant were also on social media.

Eleven players tested positive for the virus at Ajax Amsterdam, according to the newspaper "De Telegraaf".

In addition to the trio, who subsequently went on a business trip on Monday evening, it also affects the former Bremer Davy Klaassen and the former goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Players from the local Jong Ajax team are also said to be among them, but the club has not officially confirmed this and does not name any names.

Ajax coach ten Hag on the pinnacle

The Danish authorities then refused entry to the players concerned, so Ajax initially only traveled to Denmark with 17 players on Monday.

What makes the whole thing even more chaotic: According to the Dutch guidelines, the players in the honor division could still be used because they show no symptoms and the Dutch tests should have been negative.

The Uefa tests differ from those in the Netherlands - and Denmark adheres to the Uefa results.

Ajax coach Erik ten Hag is therefore, cautiously, not amused by the circumstances.

At the press conference before the game he was upset: "Is that still fair play, or is it going in the direction of distorting competition?"

You are playing in a European competition, it cannot be that "there are different regulations".

He thinks that is "very strange".

The game against the so far pointless Danish champions is extremely important for Ajax after a home defeat against Liverpool with an own goal and a 2-2 at Atalanta Bergamo after a 2-0 lead to have a chance to advance.

On paper, the Dutch are the favorites, with 18 goals from two games in the league.

But without numerous regular players, things suddenly look different.

In the game in Bergamo, the Ajax midfield was: Klaassen, Tadic, Gravenberch.

Onana in the confusion of tests

The ex-Bremer Klaassen will be missing in any case, and Stekelenburg has also stayed at home.

Ten Hag is now still hoping for the cooperation of Onana, Tadic and Gravenberch who were flown in afterwards.

All three had previously undergone another test, which was obviously negative.

If all three can play in that evening, that would be the next twist on this matter.

For goalkeeper Andre Onana this is the second corona rollercoaster in these months.

He had already tested positive on an international trip to a game in his country Cameroon in September, and the next test was negative.

If he won't be able to play, Ajax's only remaining keeper in the squad, Kjell Scherpen, would have to hit the posts.

Scherpen came to Ajax last year, previous appearances for Amsterdam: zero.

When Scherpen came to Ajax in 2019, it provoked fan protests because years before he had expressed disrespect for Ajax and showed sympathy for rival Feyenoord Rotterdam.

A real fan never forgets something like that.

At Ajax, Scherpen had to write a detention as a PR gag: "Ajax is the best club in the Netherlands".

In the evening he could get the chance to do his part for the first time.

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