AJAX endured a humbling 1-0 defeat to Latvian side RFS in the Europa League last night.
The Dutch side’s opponents had not played a competitive match since the last round of European fixtures on December 12.
That’s because the Latvian top flight is played between March and November.
Nevertheless, RFS shocked their more-fancied opponents courtesy of Adam Markhiyev’s 78th minute goal.
The Eredivisie side started former Premier League stars Jordan Henderson and Bertrand Traore, as well as ex-Juventus ace Daniele Rugani and old Man Utd target Brian Brobbey, but could not find a way through their stubborn hosts.
Their shocking defeat saw Ajax fall to 16th in the League Phase, four points off the top eight, thus officially ending their hopes of securing automatic progression to the round of 16.
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Per Global Football Rankings, the Latvian top flight is the 71st best football league in the world.
It ranks below the Georgian (66), Finnish (67), Venezuelan (68) and Qatari (69) top flights.
While ironically, it comes in directly behind the Dutch second tier (70).
Ajax fans were left mortified by last night’s result.
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One posted online: “Dear f***ing god Ajax. Might be the biggest humiliation of a Dutch team in Europe.”
While a second wrote: “Huge for Latvia, embarrassing for Ajax. Glimpse of last season right there.”
A third fumed: “What an abysmal match from our side.”
And a fourth blasted: “Most of these players do not deserve to wear our club colours.”
One point of contention has been boss Francesco Farioli’s continued preference to pick Brobbey over former Old Trafford star Wout Weghorst.
Brobbey has struggled this term, netting just once in 17 Eredivisie appearances.
Ajax have been given a weekend off league duties to concentrate on their European campaign.
They will return to action next Thursday when they host Galatasaray, potentially needing a point to avoid falling out of the league phase’s top 24.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
