The Green-Whites have been back on the training pitch since last Sunday, now their first friendly of pre-season is within sight. On Saturday, Alexander Nouri’s men will face Dutch giants Ajax. “I’m looking forward to the match; in Lasse Schöne and Joël Veltman, Ajax have players in their squad who I used to play with. We’ll catch up after the match,” said Niklas Moisander. The game will kick off at 16:00 CEST in the Lindenstadion and you can watch the game live on WERDER.TV.
Why Niklas Moisander has such fond memories of his time at Ajax and which familiar old faces the Finn and his defensive teammates will have to be wary of, is revealed below.
Did you know…
… a 19 year old was Ajax’ top goalscorer last season? In 34 league games, Ajax scored 79 goals. We can also add a further 12 strikes in their domestic cup competition and 24 in the Europa League. With 16 goals in the Eredividie and six in Europe, youngster Kasper Dolberg finished last season as his team’s deadliest player in front of goal. He helped Ajax come second in the league and reach the final of the Europa League, where they did, unfortunately, lose 2-0 to Manchester United. Next campaign, they’ll have to do without two of their most influential players in attack, as Bertrand Traore’s (nine goals) loan ended, while Davy Klaassen (14 goals) has moved to Everton.
… Niklas Moisander has transferred to Ajax twice? When he was still a youth player, Niklas Moisander, along with his brother Henrik, made the switch to Ajax. After three years in the Dutch side’s U23s side, he transferred to PEC Zwolle, before moving to AZ Alkmaar. In 2012, the captain of the Finland national side returned to Ajax and stayed there until 2015. In this time, Moisander won two Eredivisie titles and the domestic cup once. In total, he featured 104 times for the club from Amsterdam, netting seven goals.
… in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ajax have a striker in their ranks who knows Werder well? To Niklas Moisander and Co., Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar is no stranger. Until the end of last season, he was wearing the Royal Blue of Schalke 04. In nine games against the Green-Whites, the Dutchman scored four goals. The "Hunter" actually scored his first goal against SVW in the colours of Ajax – back in 2006 in the UEFA Cup.
… the last competitive game between Werder and Ajax took place more than ten years ago? In that encounter, Werder succumbed 3-1 to Ajax – it was a UEFA Cup second-leg match. Hugo Almeida scored the all-important away goal in a sold-out Amsterdam ArenA that evening, meaning it was Werder who advanced into the round of 16 thanks to a 3-0 home win. Per Mertersacker, Naldo and Torsten Frings got the goals at the Weserstadion. The most recent game between the two side was in 2013. This match was also a friendly and ended in a 3-2 Ajax win.
