ARE Ajax worried after Juventus hit six against Milan? No doubt there were those in Amsterdam who reckoned that some one, somewhere had made a mistake. As Ajax prepare for tomorrow night's Champions Cup semi final first leg tie with Juveutus in Amsterdam - a re-run of last year's final Sunday's sensational 6-1 result must have give apause for thought.
Indeed, if you had not seen it yourself, you would hardly believe the scoreline. It is true that - this has been a disastrous season for the once mighty Milan, but that in itself hardly explains a drubbing of these dimensions. And at their hallowed San Siro.
It becomes all the harder to explain when you reflect that Juventus completely humiliated a Milan side which had appeared to be on the mend following its spectacular autumnal flop. Furthermore, when battle shocked Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi told reporters that the defeat was. all the harder to accept given that Milan had made the better start to the game, he was only telling the truth.
Milan were bad, it is true, but only after they were 3-0 down early in the second half, at which, point they simply gave up. Milan might have been bad, but not so bad that Juventus goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi did not have to make at least five brilliant saves earning himself the man of the match vote from several critics.
No, the reality about this game is that it showed Italy's (Europe's?) strongest club side at their awesome best on a night when everything went right for them and everything wrong for their opponents. If they were not worried in Amsterdam before this result, then they ought to be now.
We all knew that Juventus were strong. Now, we also know that they have timed their season just about as accurately as is possible, with several key players back to their best following a mid winter lull.
Not only were regular first choice players such as Angelo Di Livio and Vladimir Jugovic in midfield, and Ciro Ferrara in defence, back to their best, but "new boys" such as striker Christian Vieri, French midfielder Zinedine Zidane and reserve midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi are all not so much playing to their best as improved out of all recognition by comparison with last autumn.
Remember, Juventus beat Milan without Alessandro Del Piero in attack, Antonio Conte and Didier Deschamps in midfield and Moreno - Torricelli and Paolo Montero in defence. Furthermore, a minor injury forced experienced striker Alen Boksic to come off after 40 minutes to make way for another of the promising reserves, Nicola Amoruso.
Boksic will be missing tomorrow night, but that might prove of little comfort to Ajax given that Vieri, after scoring the 1,000th Italian international goal on his debut in that 3-0 World Cup qualifying win against Moldova on Easter Saturday, is currently playing out of his skin. Twice on Sunday night, he found himself in a one on one confrontation with Milan's standard bearer and captain, 36 year old Franco Baresi. Twice he took the ageing Baresi to the cleaners, scoring once and the other time seeing his shot saved by Sebastiano Rossi only for Jugovic to pounce and slot it home.
Given the great player that Baresi was, it was sad to see him so completely skinned by the 23 year old.
Incidentally, on the subject of ageing defenders, it does not require the intellectual powers of Einstein to conclude that it is a Mistake (with a capital M) to play Baresi alongside 38 year old Pietro Vierchowod at the centre of the regularly - exposed Milan defence. Signore Sacchi, take note.
Sunday night's result could easily lead one to conclude that Ajax are set for a thrashing tomorrow night. Not so fast, however. Ajax may also have had their problems this season, but they appear to have left many of them well behind.
It is true that the Dutch champions struggled to get through the first round of the Champions League in the autumn, losing to both Auxerre and Swiss side Grasshopper, and it is also true that they currently appear far out of the Dutch title race, in fourth place and 11 points behind the joint leaders Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven with just seven games to play.
However, they indicated their current well being with an easy 3-0 away win against Volendam on Sunday, to thus record their sixth consecutive league win since the Dutch programme resumed on February 16th, following the winter break.
That Ajax should be coming back to their best only at this late stage in the season is all too understandable. The current Ajax is a side that had to be rebuilt following the departure last, summer of no fewer than five members of the squad which got to the Champions Final in Rome last May: Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Sonny Silooy, Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu.
The side which lines out against Juventus will feature an intriguing blend of experience and new talent, players like captain Danny Blind, winger Marc Overmars, midfielder Richard Witschge and Finnish schemer Jari Litmaaen -alongside new names such as Portuguese striker. Dani, midfielder Kiki Musampa, striker Nordin Wooter and Nigerian discovery, Tijani "Baba" Babangida.
Juventus may well be the strongest side in Europe, but Ajax are unlikely to go down 6-1.
