AFC Ajax completed a domestic double this past season, winning the league and cup, as well as making it to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, knocking out European heavyweights along the way… what an incredible season! What do you put this success down to?

"It truly was an amazing season, winning the double is always a great achievement. Reaching this far in the UEFA Champions League, just slightly missing the final, was outstanding. Nobody would have thought this at the start of the season. We grew as a team during the tournament. We had to come from far, eliminating three teams before even entering the group stage. After great results in the group stage and being unbeaten, we started with great confidence in the knockout stage. We all know what happened there. Last season’s team was a mix of upcoming youngsters and more seasoned, experienced players. They combined the benefits of both in a great way and shared a very important thing; have no fear for any opponent."

Despite the impressive journey of AFC Ajax in UEFA Club Competitions in 2018/19, your club will start the next European campaign in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. What challenges does this bring?

"This means that you have to be ready in a very early stage of the season, which brings a lot of pressure in many different aspects. Some of our players already started this year in the third week of June. But the best international players of our squad started much later. As a result of having international duties like the Nations League, African Cup and Copa America. Last year we managed to be ready on time, even coming from further, so we know it is possible. But for sure it will be extremely difficult to repeat this story of success. It does feel a bit unfair that reaching the semi-final of last season’s UEFA Champions League and winning both the Dutch League and Cup is less valuable (in terms of access for the UCL) than ending fourth in one of the top-4 leagues. Leading clubs from midsized associations, like Celtic, FC Copenhagen or Ajax, should not be solely dependent on the position of their association in the UEFA Country Ranking, but also be rewarded for their own performance both domestically as in the European Club Competitions."