(Reuters) -Ajax’s disastrous season hit a new low on Sunday when they suffered a humiliating 6-0 defeat to bitter rivals Feyenoord in Rotterdam, their largest ever loss in De Klassieker and the joint-fifth biggest defeat in the club’s history.
Ajax have been hit by issues on and off the pitch this campaign but while they were depleted by injury, few would have foreseen their capitulation as they managed one shot at goal compared to 30 for their hosts at De Kuip.
Igor Paixao and Yankuba Minteh grabbed a brace each for the home side to go with goals for David Hancko and Quinten Timber, who made his Netherlands debut last month.
"It was tough, bad," Ajax coach John van 't Schip told ESPN. "We were inferior on all fronts -- physically, on the ball. Feyenoord were much stronger in terms of intensity from minute one. We didn't get into the game. This is a blow that we all have to accept."
The win consolidates second place for Feyenoord, who have 69 points from 29 games, nine points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven.
Ajax are in sixth with 45 points from 29 matches. They have not finished lower than third since the 2005/06 season.
Ajax's previous biggest losses to Feyenoord were a 9-4 defeat in 1964 and a 6-1 in 1960. The biggest defeat in the club's history is a 9-1 loss to Dordrecht in 1913.
It was more bad news for the Netherlands’ most successful club after they suspended new CEO Alex Kroes with immediate effect on Tuesday on suspicion that he had been involved in insider trading in the club's shares.
They also fired their technical director Sven Mislintat and head coach Maurice Steijn only a few months after appointing them earlier this season and briefly found themselves at the bottom of the Eredivisie table for the first time ever.
(Reporting by Nick Said; editing by Clare Fallon)
