Former Super Eagles captain and head coach, Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh will have dilemma of who to support between Ajax Amsterdam of Holland and Juventus of Italy, when both sides clash next month in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Having played for Ajax from 1997 to 1999, only to move directly from there to Juventus, where he was till 2000, sports247.ng gathered that Oliseh is turn between which of the two teams he will support for the semi-final ticket.
Oliseh took to social media to celebrate victories for both of his former clubs in the round of 16, as Ajax sensationally sent three-time back-to-back holders, Real Madrid packing, while Juve roared back from a 2-0 deficit to swipe out Atletico Madrid on Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick.
It will now be interesting to see how ‘The Passmaster’ will move before, during and after the upcoming historic clash, when Ajax face Juventus in a rematch of the 1973 and 1996 finals.
In the other quarter-final pairings from Friday’s UCL draw ceremony in Nyon, Switzerland, Tottenham Hotspur were drawn with Manchester City in an EPL derby, Liverpool got a fir deal against FC Porto of Portugal and Manchester United got a rematch with Barcelona of Spain.
United, one of four EPL clubs still gunning for Europe’s elite title, and Barcelona, the only remaining Spanish La Liga side in the race, have met twice in the final, 2009 and 2011, with the Catalans winning both.
While it is also interesting to note that both of Oliseh’s former clubs sent Spanish sides packing in the round of 16, another one of his former teams, Borussia Dortmund of Germany went dump out by Tottenham.
Manchester City won both of their Premier League ties with Tottenham last season, then beat Mauricio Pochettino’s side at Wembley earlier in this campaign and both teams will again meet again in the EPL just days after the second leg, on April 20.
Man United’s tie against Barca means The Red Devils’ caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gets another trip to Nou Camp, where he scored a stoppage time winner for the English side in their 1999 UEFA Champions League final win over Bayern Munich of Germany.
United were drawn as the away team for the first leg but the tie had to be reversed, as UEFA had stipulated in advance that both clubs will not play their home games on the same or consecutive nights, following a decision by authorities in Manchester.
The first legs of the quarter-finals will take place on April 9 and 10, with the second legs on April 16 and 17, after which United and Liverpool will meet in the semi-finals if they reach the last four, with Tottenham or City facing the winner of the quarter-final between Ajax and Juventus.
