Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder reckons Gio van Bronckhorst is speaking the truth with his assessment that Rangers simply "can't compete" with the finances at Champions League level.
The Dutchman raised a few eyebrows with his comments after their 4-0 defeat in Amsterdam and he doubled down ahead of the return leg, with his side pointless after five games and already out of Europe barring a miraculous five-goal win against Schreuder's team. He pointed to the fact Ajax had spent close to £100million on new players to replace outgoing talent, an outlay that took Calvin Bassey from Ibrox to the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
But while some pointed to the fact Ajax had banked almost double that amount by selling players on, Schreuder reckons Van Bronckhorst's general point is correct. He's also seen his team struggle to compete with those higher up the food-chain and their win over Rangers back in September remains the only time they've picked up points in Europe this season, losing all four games against Liverpool and Napoli.
He said: "I think (Gio) is right. I think they also lost a lot and we bought a player from them, which also says something. Still, before the first game, everyone was looking at it like a 50-50 because they beat PSV Eindhoven, which was a great result.
"Then they come into the Champions League and the expectation is very high for them. But that is our world where everybody has an opinion about it and we have to stay cool, (stick) to our own plan and focus, and I think Gio is doing fantastic here at this club.
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"If you win, you want to win more and everybody is excited at the club. But you also have to be realistic if you're also in a pool with Liverpool and Napoli, and we are obviously also in that pool.
"So in the first game, I think it was clear it was our game. Tomorrow it can be totally different and from our point of view, we have to be ready from the start."
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