THE LAST ASSIGNMENT- A CHANCE TO BE AMONG THE BIG BOYS
My golden pen has decide to leave London to another destination, Sweden is the country and the venue is friends arena Stockholm.
The 2017 uefa Europa league final will be played at the friends arena in solna, Sweden today 24 may 2017 between Dutch side AJAX FC and English side MANCHESTER UNITED. Due to changes in the rule guiding uefa club cup competitions, the winner of the uefa Europa league will enter the group stages of the uefa champions league automatically for the next season with Spanish side sevilla fc being the first beneficiary of the rule since it was made.
STOCKHOLM AND FRIENDS ARENA
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. It is a city built on water with 30% of the city's 4.900km area being water, also another 30% of the area is made up of parks and 'green zones'. The population of Stockholm is approximately 1.5 million which is over one-sixth of the entire population of Sweden. The city has a number of highly regarded universities and holds a high percentage of the country's professions.
The friends arena since its opening on 25 October 2012 hass served as Sweden national stadium. The stadium currently holds a capacity of 50,653. Also, the friends arena has hosted some top games. E.g Sweden vs England which the host won 4-2, it is also the first game to be played in the new stadium, also the uefa women euro final between Germany and Norway in 2013 amongst others.
ROAD TO STOCKHOLM
having lost 5-2 on aggregate to Russian side FC Rostov in the qualifying stages of the uefa champions league, ajax found themselves placed into group G of the uefa Europa league alongside panathinaikos, celta Vigo and standard liege. On 15 September, ajax began their Europa league campaign with a 2-1 away win over panathinaikos, followed by a 1-0 win and 2-2 draw against standard liege and celta Vigo respectively. This was followed by a 3-2 win over celta Vigo, match day 5 saw ajax progresses into the next stage of the competition with a game to spare as they won 2-0 over panathinaikos. The drew 2-2 in their last game of the group stages at standard liege.
In the round of 32, ajax were drawn against polish side liega Warsaw and they progressed with a 1-0 aggregate win. Also in the round of 16, Ajax were paired against fc Copenhagen of Denmark and they moved past fc Copenhagen to set up a quarter final clash with German side fc shackle 04 and they were victorious. The final before the final for ajax was when they were drawn against fc Lyon of France and they were 5-4 winners to progress into the finals.
MANCHESTER UNITED on the other hand were drawn against feyenoord, zorya and fernabache in the group stages of the Europa league. Manchester united progressed to the found of 32 with 4 wins and 2 losses. In the round of 32, Manchester united were paired against French side st-Etienne and they were 4-0 winners on aggregate. Also in the round of 16, man.utd were paired against Russian side fc Rostov and they won 2-1 on agregate to set up a quarter final clash with Belgian side Anderlecht and they were 3-2 winners on agreegate as they moved to the semi finals of the competition. Manchester united were drawn against celta Vigo in the semis and they won 2-1 to set up an epic final clash with ajax fc.
THE LAST ASSIGNMENT
Ajax fc finished second in the dutch league behind eventual winners feyenoord who won the league for the first time in 18 years while Manchester united famously finished 6th in the English premier league which means both teams have missed out on automatic qualifications from their respective league, although ajax have a chance to be in the champions league even if they lose as they are in the qualifying stages of the competition. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in the competition.
A win for ajax would mean much success for the team and coach peter bosz who took charge of the club in the summer following his departure from another dutch side vitesse. On the other hand, a win for coach José mourinho and Manchester united would create history. Jose mourinho on his part have never lost a final, while a win for Manchester united mean they would join the league of illustrious clubs who have won all uefa club cup competition, currently only final opponent ajax fc, Italian champions juventus fc, German champions Bayern Munich and premier league champions Chelsea fc have won all uefa club cup competitions.
On paper Manchester united are favourites to win even though they have been inconsistent all season long. Ajax fc on their part would strive to win their first European honours in 22 years and would prefer to go into next seasons uefa champions league automatically rather than the qualifying rounds having lost out the previous year. May the best team wins...
Thanks to the following websites who were much helpful in the course of writing this article.
Philp.greenspun.com
Ajaxdaily.com
Uefa.com
Wikipedia.com
Futaa.com