Ajax will meet with Lille OSC on Thursday evening in the Europa League an improved version of the team that was defeated twice in the group stage of the Champions League (3-0 and 0-2) last season. The Northern French club has been transformed from sub-topper to leader in Ligue 1 with Sven Botman, considered superfluous at Ajax, as one of the best players.
“Botman is one of the best defenders in Ligue 1 this season,” said Jeremy Jeanningros, Lille watcher on behalf of the French sports medium. The team. “I expected he would need some time to adjust and be there next season at the earliest. It turned out not to be and he was impressive from day one.”
Ajax received a transfer fee of 8 million euros for Botman. That seemed like a lot of money for the now 21-year-old defender who was on loan to sc Heerenveen and did not play a minute in the Amsterdam main force. But due to his excellent game at Lille, Botman is now worth a lot more money and a switch to a European top club beckons next summer.
Partly thanks to the defender of the Juniors, Lille – above the exorbitantly rich Paris Saint-Germain – is in the lead in Ligue 1. The team of trainer Christophe Galtier has not conceded a goal for more than six hundred minutes.
“It may have been a mistake on the part of Ajax, but it is difficult to estimate how he had done it at Ajax”, says Jeanningros, who did not know Botman before coming to Lille. “And yet I was convinced that he would add something to this Lille. Why? Because the club, under the leadership of sports director Luís Campos, always manages to get the potentially best players in the world, without you knowing them”, he refers to Eden Hazard, who made a name for himself at Lille as a youngster.
Sven Botman in action on behalf of Lille.
Sven Botman in action on behalf of Lille. Photo: ANP
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‘Lille can compete with PSG’
Botman is therefore not the only bull’s eye during the Lille transfer summer. The twenty-year-old attacker Jonathan David, who would also have been on the radar of Ajax, came over from KAA Gent and after some adjustment problems he is making good progress at the club. He has scored five times in the last six games.
“These transfers perfectly reflect the club’s policy. It is a real investment club and they also have a number of experienced players this year,” said Jeanningros. The journalist mentions 35-year-old Burak Yilmaz and 37-year-old José Fonte, who also played an important role in the European wintering and the (for the time being) trumping PSG in their own country.
“I think Lille will last a while in Ligue 1, but I suspect PSG will take some distance in the final rounds. It’s a great achievement in itself that they are still in the race.”
Sven Botman with Jonathan David.
Sven Botman with Jonathan David.
Photo: Pro Shots
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‘Lille much better than last season’
A possible national title, the first for Lille since 2011, would be a special highlight in club history, but according to Jeanningros it is not the case that the European adventure and the diptych with Ajax are a side issue.
“The coach has spoken from the start of the season on how important European success is for him. He has the personal ambition to make a step to a bigger club next season and realizes that it is important for him to develop his coaching skills on the European stage. to show.”
Last year, when Lille lost twice to Ajax in the Champions League, Galtier was also a trainer at the club. The French created enough chances in both games, but miraculously they couldn’t get the ball in.
“But that’s different this year”, Jeanningros emphasizes. “This year’s team is a kind of upgrade from last season’s team. Lille is definitely better and partly because of the absentees at Ajax I give them a good chance to continue.”
The sixteenth final between Lille and Ajax starts on Thursday at 9 p.m. in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy and is led by the Slovak Ivan Kruzliak. A week later the return is in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
View the Europa League program
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