stéphane grichting hopes aj auxerre can build on their win against afc ajax and ensure a "difficult" night at stade abbé-deschamps for ac milan in tuesday's key group g encounter.
aj auxerre may sit bottom of uefa champions league group g but they go into their home game with second-placed ac milan knowing that if they win and afc ajax fail to better real madrid cf in amsterdam, they could end tuesday night in a qualifying berth.
that is how tight it is in group g with auxerre one point behind ajax who, in turn, are one point behind the rossoneri, and auxerre defender stéphane grichting said the french club believe in their ability to pick up another key victory at stade abbé-deschamps. auxerre revived their hopes by defeating ajax 2-1 on 3 november and grichting said: "the win against ajax gave us a lot of confidence. we give it our all in every game and we want to believe in our success. the situation was quite similar against ajax. we know we will have to get at least a point."
auxerre, as grichting notes, are on "a good run", unbeaten in eight matches in all competitions, and the switzerland defender hopes they can make life awkward for the serie a leaders. "we are facing great clubs in this group, but it has been difficult for teams to play against us at stade abbé-deschamps," he said.
auxerre lost narrowly to a late real madrid goal in their first home fixture in the section before beating ajax, and this is another major test as they welcome opponents on a four-game winning streak. "we will have to raise our football to their level," acknowledged the 31-year-old, who is only too aware of the threat of milan striker zlatan ibrahimović. "we will have to watch ibrahimović very closely. it will be one of the keys to the game. he scores in nearly every match so we will have to limit the number of balls he gets."
milan's visit to auxerre could give former olympique de marseille midfielder mathieu flamini the chance to play back in his homeland now that he has forced his way back into massimiliano allegri's team. flamini said: "auxerre have a very good team. we had a difficult first leg against them in milan [a 2-0 win on matchday 1]. we know it is going to be difficult. as far as i am concerned, i am 100% fit. my coach gives me the opportunity to show my skills and i am glad to take that chance. milan are a big club, we want to win everything so tomorrow we will play for victory." auxerre have been warned.
goals from zlatan ibrahimović and ronaldinho proved sufficient for the serie a side to join real madrid cf in qualifying from group g.
ac milan can start planning for the uefa champions league knockout stage after zlatan ibrahimović's fourth goal in group g and a late ronaldinho strike earned the serie a leaders a 2-0 victory at aj auxerre that snuffed out the home side's hopes of progress.
victory for real madrid cf at afc ajax means the rossoneri can no longer be caught in second spot, and they owed their decisive push over the line to a controlled display at stade abbé-deschamps. preferring caution to adventure, they went ahead courtesy of an alert finish from the previously quiet ibrahimović on 64 minutes, before finally making sure of the win via a curled effort from substitute ronaldinho in added time.
a guarded start to the encounter only began to brighten up once robinho had arced an audacious half-volley over the crossbar on eight minutes, but it was auxerre who took the initiative from there with a view to testing christian abbiati. first, the visiting goalkeeper claimed a wayward header from roy contout and soon afterwards he dived superbly to his left as dariusz dudka's fizzing free-kick looked destined to swerve into the net via a deflection.
with much of their approach play too wasteful, set pieces continued to prove auxerre's primary source of danger, while at the back they kept things tight until clarence seedorf was allowed to run on to ibrahimović's headed pass and hook marginally too high. that signalled a brief spell of pressure from the visitors, although they did not pursue it with much conviction.
instead, genuine chances remained rare notwithstanding a low frédéric sammaritano drive stopped by abbiati and gennaro gattuso's failure to find the target following adama coulibaly's loose touch. the same blend of inaccurate passing and caution then took hold again after the break, when it took coulibaly's 58th-minute block from robinho to draw the first gasps from the crowd in the half.
jean fernandez introduced midfielder kamel chafni for right-back cédric hengbart in a bid to shake things up, but his charges were soon left reeling by ibrahimović's finishing prowess. scorer of both goals when the teams met on matchday 1, the swedish international created panic in the auxerre defence with a deft flick towards seedorf and then finished emphatically as dudka's sliding interception rolled across the edge of the area.
auxerre's hopes of even salvaging a draw were then finished by ronaldinho, and they must now attempt to leapfrog ajax in third when they visit madrid on 8 december.
1. real madrid cf...5...4...1...0...11...2...9...13 2. ac milan...5...2...2...1...7...5...2...8 3. afc ajax...5...1...1...3...4...10...-6...4 4. aj auxerre...5...1...0...4...3...8...-5...3
