Rangers facing Ajax in crisis as Amsterdammer struggles mirror Man United mayhem

It’s been just five short years since Erik ten Hag’s swashbuckling Ajax swatted aside Real Madrid in their own Bernabeu backyard en-route to the Champions League semi-finals, but for fans of the Dutch side worldwide it seems like a lifetime ago.

Boasting a stellar cast of the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Hakim Ziyech, Dusan Tadic and Matthijs de Ligt, Ajax played some scintillating soccer throughout that European campaign, only to be downed by Lucas Moura’s last-gasp semi-final second-leg away goal that broke the hearts of those inside the Johan Cruijff ArenA and beyond.

Since then, Ajax has been on a downward spiral spanning the laughable to the lamentable which culminated in one of the worst seasons in the club’s storied history last campaign. The Amsterdammers will take on Philippe Clement's Rangers side this afternoon in a pre-season friendly an hour's drive east of their home ground at the Sports Park Mulderssingel, just outside Zwolle.

Under new coach Francesco Farioli, the former Nice manager who served under former Brighton coach Roberto de Zerbi at Benevento and Sassuolo, a major rebuild is under way in the Dutch capital that will give the former philosophy student at the University of Florence plenty to ponder.

It's hard to overstate just how bad Ajax were at times last season. Director of Football Sven Mislintat's calamitous reign was ended with the season barely under way in September following anarchic scenes ahead of the home Klassieker against Feyenoord. The former Arsenal recruitment chief had stormed into the dressing room pre-match to discuss the potential dismissal of then-coach Maurice Steijn, while he himself was under investigation by the club over the circumstances which brought Croatian international