Ajax make the best of UEFA Cup chance

Enduring another absence from the UEFA Champions League, Marco van Basten is determined to lead AFC Ajax to the UEFA Cup group stage, underlining that "it is important for the club and the players to be internationally active."

Past success
Having failed to earn a UEFA Champions League place in the end-of-season play-offs in the Netherlands, the Amsterdam giants will look to take consolation in the UEFA Cup, where they will seek to repeat their 1991/92 success. Serbia's FK Borac are their first opponents, with coach Van Basten keen to stress the importance of prolonging their European campaign on his young squad's development.

Expert advice
For the third season in succession, Ajax have missed out on a UEFA Champions League place, but will look to avoid a repeat of last year when they failed to reach the UEFA Cup group stage either, losing out to NK Dinamo Zagreb in the first round. Van Basten has been eliciting inside information from 19-year-old former FK Partizan player Miralem Sulejmani, but the summer signing confessed to knowing little about Borac.

Record signing
"I could only really tell him that they are defensively strong and good on the counterattack," said the Serbian international attacker, who reportedly broke Ajax's all-time transfer record when he came to Amsterdam for a figure quoted at over €16m. "I was not able to give Van Basten much information about the club as I have not lived in Serbia for a while [having joined SC Heerenveen from Partizan in 2006]."

Familiar territory
One thing he will be familiar with is the venue for tonight's game. With Borac's home not deemed to be up to scratch, the match will be played at Partizan's home ground in Belgrade. "The city will always have a special place in my heart, I know every bit of it," said Sulejmani. "I have been a Partizan fan all my life. For me personally, it is a good thing we are not playing at the FK Crvena Zvezda stadium."

Borac excited
Older Ajax heads might disagree with that, with the club having won their third European Champion Clubs' Cup there in 1973. Either way, Borac are ready for a massive occasion, with coach Nenad Milovanović saying: "I expect a lot of support in Serbia. A small local club will be up against one of most famous European giants. We are not afraid – they are not from another planet."