AFC Ajax v FC Thun PRESS KIT Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam Tuesday, 18 October 2005 - 20:45 CET Group B - Matchday 3 AFC Ajax are looking for their first win in this season's UEFA Champions League as they take on FC Thun, after a draw at AC Sparta Praha and a home defeat by Arsenal FC. Newcomers Thun have been considerably boosted by a first victory in their maiden campaign - the 1-0 success against Sparta on Matchday 2. Thun in front •The game has added incentive with Ajax trailing the Swiss team by two points, with Thun in second place after the first two matches. Past meetings with Swiss sides •Ajax are playing host to their fifth different Swiss club in UEFA competition, and this will be their seventh home game against Swiss opposition. Ajax began with a series of four victories and no goals conceded, but have not won either of the last two meetings. •The initial four-match winning run at home, with eight goals scored and none conceded, was ended in the group stage of the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League when Grasshopper-Club triumphed 1-0 in Amsterdam. •The last encounter between Ajax and a Swiss team was in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup second round when Lausanne-Sports eliminated the Dutch side after a 1-0 home success and a 2-2 draw at the Amsterdam ArenA. First Dutch duel •Thun, who have never faced a Dutch club in Europe, play their second away game in the UEFA Champions League after their last-minute defeat at Highbury on Matchday 1, when the winner came from Arsenal's former Ajax star Dennis Bergkamp. Away success in qualifying •To reach the group stage the Swiss outfit were impressive on their travels. In the second qualifying round, Thun drew 2-2 at FC Dynamo Kyiv and went on to win the tie 3-2 on aggregate. In the third qualifying round, they strengthened their bid to reach the UEFA Champions League proper with a 1-0 first-leg victory at Malmö FF, which was turned into a 4-0 aggregate triumph. Team facts: Ajax •Previous winners and losing finalists in the competition, Ajax are making their third appearance in the UEFA Champions League in the past four seasons. The Dutch side could have had a sequence of five straight qualifications had they negotiated the third qualifying round in both the 2001/02 and 2004/05 campaigns. •Ajax won the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League against AC Milan (1-0) and came uefa.com 1/26 AFC Ajax v FC Thun PRESS KIT within a penalty shootout of becoming the first and only team to retain the trophy to date against Juventus (1-1 after extra time, losing 4-2 on penalties). •Ajax, together with FC Bayern München, enjoyed much of their success in terms of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup during the 1970s as they won the competition three times in a row against Panathinaikos FC (1970/71), FC Internazionale Milano (1971/72) and Juventus (1972/73). •Prior to that, the Dutch side were on the receiving end of a 4-1 defeat away to AC Milan in the 1968/69 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final. In six appearances in the final, Ajax have won four and lost two. •Last season, Ajax finished second, ten points adrift of champions PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie, a performance that resulted in their qualification to the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. •Having struggled to overcome the final hurdle to the group stage in the past, Ajax negotiated the third qualifying round this season when they defeated Danish side Brøndby IF 5-3 on aggregate. Despite falling a goal behind in the home leg at the Amsterdam ArenA, the Dutch side responded with three second-half goals without reply thanks to Ryan Babel (50) and Wesley Sneijder (80, 89). Ajax maintained their advantage in Denmark and actually opened the scoring through Markus Rosenberg (31). Although Brøndby equalised shortly afterwards, Ajax were ahead again through Babel (73) before Julien Escudé scored an own goal three minutes into added time by which point the tie had been won. •Ajax left it late to equalise in their opening UEFA Champions League group stage match away against Czech champions AC Sparta Praha. Substitute Miroslav Matušovič had given Sparta the lead after 66 minutes only for Sneijder to level in added time. • But Ajax were not able to build on that result on Matchday 2, losing 2­1 at home to Arsenal FC. The English side took a two­goal lead through Fredrik Ljungberg (2) and Robert Pirès (69pen) and though Rosenberg (71) managed to reduce the deficit there was no last­gasp escape for the Dutch outfit. • Greek striker Yannis Anastasiou was on target twice as Ajax kick­started their faltering UEFA Champions League campaign with a 2­0 victory against FC Thun at the Amsterdam ArenA on Matchday 3. Anastasiou was told he was to be released in March, but newly­arrived coach Danny Blind intervened because of his positive influence on younger players. That decision was vindicated in style. After an Ajax­dominated first half, the 32­year­old broke the deadlock nine minutes before the interval, clinically slotting in from eight metres. Mauro Lustrinelli worked opportunities for the visitors before and after, but Anastasiou doubled the lead ten minutes after the restart as Ajax sidled into second place in the section. • On Matchday 5, Ajax will complete 150 matches played in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. To date, they have played on 148 occasions with 74 wins, 35 draws and 39 defeats with 239 goals scored and 141 conceded. uefa.com 2/26 AFC Ajax v FC Thun PRESS KIT • Despite appearing in two finals, Ajax have had limited recent success in the competition as their overall record shows. Having played 67 matches, the Dutch side have won 29, drawn 18 and lost 20 matches with 88 goals scored and 59 conceded. Team facts: Thun • Prior to this season, Thun’s longest foray into UEFA club competition came in the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup when they advanced from the first round to the third round before exiting 5­3 on aggregate to Hamburger SV. • Thun finished ten points behind Swiss Super League champions FC Basel 1893, a performance which yielded a spot in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. Thun overcame experienced UEFA Champions League veterans FC Dynamo Kyiv 3­2 on aggregate by firstly drawing in Ukraine before finishing the task in Berne. Oleh Gusev (20) and Maksim Shatskikh (40) twice gave Dynamo the lead at home but Thun responded through Mauro Lustrinelli (38) and Silvan Aegerter (66). Thun left it late to confirm their participation in the group stage, but Tiago Bernardini (90) made sure by scoring the only goal of the game at the Wankdorf stadium. • Thun subsequently defeated 1979 European Champion Clubs' Cup winners Malmö FF in the third qualifying round. Trailing 1­0 from the first leg in Sweden, Thun triumphed 3­ 0 in the return at the Stade de Suisse in Berne with goals from Bernardini (25) and Lustrinelli (40, 65). • The Thun dream, therefore, continued into Europe’s premier club competition, and they almost got their campaign off to a positive start against Arsenal FC at Highbury. But Dennis Bergkamp had not read the script, scoring three minutes into added time to give the Gunners a 2­1 win after Gilberto’s opening goal after 51 minutes was cancelled out by Nelson Ferreira’s lob. • Incidentally, Thun’s Swiss rivals, Basel, exited the competition in the third qualifying round to Werder Bremen as they lost 4­2 on aggregate. • Selver Hodzic secured Thun's first victory in the UEFA Champions League group stage with a last­minute goal that ended spirited AC Sparta Praha's hopes of taking a point from their trip to Berne on Matchday 2. Just as the Czech champions looked to have earned a draw with a disciplined display, the Thun defender crept in at the far post to turn José Gonçalves's low left­wing cross into the bottom corner of the net. • But Thun were not so fortunate on Matchday 3 as Greek striker Yannis Anastasiou was on target twice as AFC Ajax kick­started their faltering UEFA Champions League campaign with a 2­0 victory at the Amsterdam ArenA. After an Ajax­dominated first half, the 32­year­old broke the deadlock nine minutes before the interval, clinically slotting in from eight metres. Mauro Lustrinelli worked opportunities for Thun before and after, but Anastasiou doubled the lead ten minutes after the restart. • To date, Thun have played 15 matches in UEFA club competitions with seven wins, four defeats and four losses. The Swiss side have scored 24 times, conceding 18 goals uefa.com 3/26 AFC Ajax v FC Thun PRESS KIT in the process. • The Swiss side have featured in two UEFA club competitions – the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the UEFA Champions League/European Champion Clubs’ Cup. In the former competition, their record reads: played eight, won three, drawn three, lost two with 15 goals scored against 12 conceded. In the UEFA Champions League/ European Champion Clubs’ Cup, they have played seven times with four wins, one draw, two losses, nine goals for and six against. Match facts: Ajax v Thun Ajax facts • Previous winners and losing finalists in the competition, Ajax are making their third appearance in the UEFA Champions League in the past four seasons. The Dutch side could have had a sequence of five straight qualifications had they negotiated the third qualifying round in both the 2001/02 and 2004/05 campaigns.