Farioli prefers to train in Amsterdam
The Ajax players trained in Amsterdam on Wednesday morning. The men boarded the plane to Athens around noon. After setting foot on Greek soil, Francesco Farioli and Jorrel Hato came to the Olympic Stadium Spyridon Louis. The two came for the press conference. The rest stayed behind in the hotel.
A training session in the stadium where the game will be played on Thursday was not on the agenda. Why not? Don’t players want to feel the grass or experience the conditions? We at Ajax Life asked the trainer.
“Training in Amsterdam is our protocol. I prefer to train at our own complex. There we have all the comfort we need and we have good fields at our disposal. We will prepare ourselves well on Thursday.”
Farioli had obviously studied Panathinaikos well. “They are a very experienced team. In Diego Alonso, they have a coach with a clear vision and international experience. They pass the ball around very quickly and build up well. They attack with many players in the last thirty meters. High pressing is part of their DNA. They can vary their pressing, but always with the aim of winning the ball as quickly as possible.”
It is currently scorching hot in Greece. Even in the evenings it is still oppressively warm. “It will be a hot game. In terms of temperatures, but also when you look at the atmosphere in the stands,” said Farioli. “We have to be ready from minute one and play with concentration, with every touch of the ball.”
Farioli only likes playing many matches in a row at this stage. “It is a good opportunity to develop automatisms as quickly as possible. We prefer to play three matches a week. To achieve that, we have to remain active in Europe. Our mission is clear.”
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Bakasetas: ‘The whole planet knows what Ajax stands for’
Anastasios Bakasetas is a striker for Panathinaikos. He previously played for Alanyaspor. There he came into contact with Farioli. The two know each other well and still keep in touch on a personal level. “He is a very nice man. I love him,” Bakasetas said during the press moment of the Greeks.
“I worked with Farioli and I know him well. We are still in touch,” the forward continued. “I know his style and way of attacking and also how he can get to his players. He is very passionate and crazy about football. I am happy to meet him on Thursday and of course I want to beat him.”
Bakasetas is clear about the match. “Ajax is a good team, but we are well prepared. We are also focused. We know very well what our goal is. That is what we are fighting for. The whole planet knows what Ajax normally stands for, but we will see on Thursday who is the better of the two.”
About half an hour later the Ajax press conference started. Farioli was confronted with Bakasetas’ words. “Cow is a special player, also because of the person he is. He has a great left foot. And a good right foot by the way. He sees the game. He makes difficult things look simple. He always wants to win. I just met him. It was nice to see him after a few months.
“We have to keep a close eye on him,” Farioli continues. “That also applies to Filip Duricic (nickname: Cruyff of the Balkans), with whom I worked at Sassuolo. He is also very skillfull. Panathinaikos can be happy with two such players.”
Speaking of important players for the Greeks: top scorer Fotis Ioannidis is fit again and registered. He seemed to be leaving Panathinaikos for a while, but he is still there. The chance that he will start the match is not that big, but he can certainly get minutes against Ajax.
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Clover as a symbol of luck
Twenty-time Greek champion Panathinaikos was founded in 1908 as a football club and also grew into a successful multi-sports association. Sports such as basketball, athletics, rugby, cycling and volleyball also have a place. This also applies to various martial arts.
The club colour is green. On the shirt we see the well-known clover leaf as a logo. The symbol stands for happiness, balance between body, soul and spirit. Go ahead! The clover as a logo was proposed in 1918 by Michalis Papazoglou, himself a former footballer of the club. The story goes that he got this idea from Billy Sherring, a successful marathon runner at the Olympic Games in 1906. He ran with a green clover on his chest. In any case, supporters have been drawing self-designed clovers all over Athens ever since.
A club often has a nickname. That is no different for Panathinaikos: Trifalara. Panathinaikos normally plays in the Greek Super League at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, but against Ajax they will move to the Spyridon Louis Olympic Stadium.
Panathinaikos reached the third qualifying round of the Europa League by beating Bulgarian FK Botev Plovdiv in a two-game series one stage earlier. On Greek soil, Panathinaikos won 2-1. It looked exciting for a moment, but in Bulgaria, the Greeks thundered over the Bulgarians 4-0. Alexander Jeremejeff scored three times during the double encounter. The thirty-year-old striker is one to keep a close eye on.
At Panathinaikos we see a number of familiar names. A possible familiar face at the club is that of defender Philipp Max. The ex-PSV player came over from Eintracht Frankfurt. Furthermore, former Feyenoord players Bart Schenkeveld and Tonny Vilhena are on the payroll of Ajax’s opponent.
Ajax and Panathinaikos met for the first time in the 1970/1971 season. That was not just any meeting, as it was the European Cup 1 final. The first that Ajax also won (2-0). In the 1995/1996 season, our club settled the score with the Greeks in two matches in the semi-final of the Champions League.
The last diptych dates from the 2016/2017 season. Ajax won twice in the Europa League. Bertrand Traoré scored in Athens. We would like to see that happen again, Bertje!
Panathinaikos and Ajax will kick off in Athens on Thursday at 20:00 (Dutch time). The match will be led by Slovakian referee Filip Glova.
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