De Boer: Barça and Real favourites to reach the Champions League final

Ajax coach Frank de Boer is determined to take all three points from Tuesday's game with Real Madrid in the Champions League.

The Dutch champions are third in Group D and cannot qualify for the next round of the competition, but can still make it to the final stages of the Europa League.

But even though his side are out of Europe's elite competition, De Boer believes that just playing against Real Madrid will be enough make his players desperate to win.

"When you are playing Madrid you do not need motivation, they are one of the biggest clubs around," he said in his pre-match press conference.

Victory at the Santiago Bernabéu will guarantee them Europa League football, but anything less will mean they will be keeping a close eye on the tie between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.

José Mourinho has revealed that Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso will not play on Tuesday, but De Boer believes Madrid will still have enough quality on the pitch to trouble his team

"They have a lot of players they can rely on and they will still be very strong," he said.

"We want to maintain the level of form we have shown in the Champions League. Although we started badly in the game in Amsterdam, the game taught us a lot. When you are playing against teams this good you cannot afford to lose concentration. I won't be disappointed if we lose the game, as long as we play well."

De Boer also praised José Mourinho, who has been criticised in the last week by some sections of the Real Madrid support.

"Mourinho is fantastic, he has won a lot of trophies and I cannot judge him. If he thinks he needs to leave because it will help the team, then I understand that. I don't know if I would do the same, I try to avoid confrontations with the fans, but Mourinho has the credibility to do that."

De Boer played alongside Pep Guardiola in Barcelona, and said the Catalan "perfected Rijkaard's system" during his four years at the Camp Nou. He also compared Guardiola with Mourinho:

"They have different personalities and treat the press and the players different. Despite this, they have both shown they are among the best coaches in the world."

And the Dutchman praised Real Madrid and Barcelona as "the best clubs in the world".

"When you look at the difference between them and the other teams in the league, you see how good they are. I'm sure they'll get to the semi-finals and they are the favourites for the final."

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Source: AS