Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder not reading anything into Rangers’ Old Firm mauling

Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder is taking nothing from Rangers’ mauling by Celtic as he prepares for the Champions League Group A opener against the Light Blues on Wednesday.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side have to regroup quickly following a chastening 4-0 defeat by their Old Firm rivals which left them trailing the champions by five points at the top of the cinch Premiership.

However, Schreuder will expect to face the Rangers team which beat Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven over two legs to reach the group stage of European football’s elite club competition for the first time in 12 years.

Speaking at the Johan Cruyff Arena, he said: “They are a very experienced team with an experienced coach.

“I don’t look at what happened against Celtic, I look more at the PSV game.

“In Glasgow, PSV were the better team, although Rangers did well in Eindhoven.

“Every game is on itself and that is also the case tomorrow. It is a new challenge for us.

“They played a tough game (against Celtic), with all respect we played against Cambuur (won 4-0), also a competitive game but it is a different kind of game.

“We won, they lost, but it says nothing about tomorrow.

“We have been analysing their games, they press high and try to play. You can see the hand of their coach on how they play.

“I am very proud of him and how far he has come. All of the Netherlands is proud of him.

“They beat Dortmund, they beat Leipzig and they did a great job getting to the (Europa League) final last season and I think they showed a lot of courage against Eindhoven.

“They are a very competitive team, they will try and press us in the beginning. We know Gio very well.

“You look at Giovanni’s style of coaching and I don’t think we have many big surprises coming. We are very well prepared.”

One person who knows even more about Rangers than Schreuder is Calvin Bassey, who joined Ajax from the Light Blues in the summer.

Schreuder said: “He is a great signing for us, we are very happy he is here and in our team.

“He is a very positive guy, he has great physicality and he brings a lot of energy to the team. He is improving all the time and I am happy he is with us.

“He has a lot of confidence in himself, he plays for a club that’s very dominant on the pitch.

“He has to learn on the pitch and as the trainer I am always looking for aspects of his play where he can get better. He has already shown fast progress in his learning.”

Schreuder noted that Brazil international Antony scored on his Manchester United debut, following his recent move from Ajax for a reported fee of around £82m.

He said: “Of course we are always happy if players from Ajax score abroad.

“He had a good game, a good win and we are proud of our (ex) players, of course”.