During Wednesday's press conference, the Italian manager refused to downplay the importance of the Europa League for Ajax, calling it an "important competition" for the Dutch giants amid a title push in the Eredivisie.
Farioli surprised many by playing a drastically changed starting eleven in Frankfurt, changing his team in ten different places as opposed to last week's 2-1 first-leg loss. The decision sparked confusion among the Ajax faithful and seemed to signal Farioli giving up on the Europa League entirely.
"Whether I was wrong? I don't think so," said Farioli after his side's 4-1 loss. "I would do it again in a minute.
"I find it painful that we lost, but we have to move on. On Sunday we play against AZ. That team has already made us suffer a lot this season."
Ajax currently have an 8-point lead over chasers PSV but face AZ in Amsterdam this Sunday - a team they already lost twice to earlier this campaign.
Personnel issues urged Farioli to change his side up already after striker Brian Brobbey sustained a knee injury in last weekend's league game against PEC Zwolle. At the same time, centre-half Youri Baas missed the game due to a lack of match fitness and captain Jordan Henderson sat out a suspension, leaving Farioli with plenty of question marks.
"I don't think we have given up here. I don't want to hear about a 'B-team' either. That would be a huge lack of respect. Then we played out at Union with a B team, too, and we won then," continued Farioli.
Enjoying the ride
Ajax's UEFA Europa League campaign already started in July 2024 when Serbian side Vojvodina Novi Sad were the opponents in the second qualifying round. The Dutch giants played a total of 18 European matches this season.
"We are closing the European chapter. We enjoyed ourselves in the Europa League and experienced many different emotions. We were eager to reach the league phase and succeeded," said Farioli.
"We experienced a game with 34 penalties against Panathinaikos and played 110 minutes with ten men against Union (Saint Gilloise). We were very good against Besiktas and Maccabi and bad in Riga.
"But it was a nice trip and now on to the Eredivisie."