Competition: Champions League, Round of 16, 1st Leg Venue: Johan Cruyff Arena Squad List: Notes: Ajax is in a bit of a slump having lost 2 of their last 3 games while we have won 8 of our last 10 in all comps. We have 2 relatively easy games after this match at home vs Girona and away at Levante who are both low in the table. I expect Solari to put out his best XI in this match. Ramos will play his 600th game for Real Madrid in this match. Legend. Ajax has not reached the quarterfinals in 16 years. Madrid has dominated recent contests between the sides, beating Ajax home and away in the group stage in 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13. Their last trip to Amsterdam brought a 4-1 success in October 2012 – Madrid won by the same scoreline at the Bernabéu two months later – making it 11 goals in their last three visits to Ajax. Real Madrid has continued their record of appearing in the UEFA CL round of 16 every year since its introduction in 2003/04 – and have not lost a tie at this juncture in nine years. VAMOS MADRID! A POR LA DECIMATERCERA!
I'm predicting a 3-0 or 4-0 victory. Just want to tie up this game in the first leg. Didn't know Klass-Jan Huntelaar played for them.
He's a bench warmer. Best way to beat this Ajax is to press them high up the pitch and force them to make a mistake. Heracles and Feyenoord did this very good. They don't play with a real DM, Blind is playing as their CB, while he's a 6. Tagliafico is injured, Frankie is a doubt. VJR is going to have the day of his life if he faces Mazraoui, again a midfielder who is played as a defender. Tbh, we should destroy them.
BRAZUKAS 🇧🇷🤔 #UCL ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/D8u9OIJ0Vi— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) February 12, 2019 Vinicius takes the iconic place of Cristiano in the customary champions league away trip photo between Marcelo and Casemiro
How fortunes change so quickly. This tie had a different complexion after the draw. They are still a good team and will be hugely motivated to show it on the biggest stage. We are in good form and the Atelti win should give the guys confidence but we've seen us play one very good game followed by a bad game against a weaker opposition. Hope they don't take them lightly.
Univision Deportes and UniMas will show it.. If you have Dish N. they took these channels off their lineup a few months ago (I am screwed) but if you have any other provider.. Fios, Comcast, DirectV they should have it.
If you have cable, one of the Spanish language channels here in the US will be carrying the match. Right now it's being listed on UniMas and Univision Desportes and I think the latter is in hi-def.
Fellow Dish customer in the same boat. Having to pay an additional premium/stream illegally in 2019 is beyond ridiculous.
Ajax trainer Erik ten Hag says that de Jong is fit for tomorrow's match. I have not heard about Tagliafico, our LB, who has a bit of a knee problem. We will really need him to be competitive tomorrow. I posted a scouting report on our team on a previous thread on this forum. Most of the comments still hold but just a couple of updates. Our #9, Kaspar Dolberg has been playing very well lately and I think he has the capacity to cause some problems for Real particularly if Varane is out. Weak spot in the MF is Schöne who is really too slow to play at this level. Ajax really don't have a defensive MF which causes problems for the back line. They are also susceptible to quick counter attacks when the offensive is too far up the pitch. While I always hope for an Ajax win, a good performance for them will be a 1-1 draw. A more realistic result is probably 1-3 loss but the last time we played a Spanish club in Amsterdam the result was a 2-1 victory over -- wait for it -- Barcelona!!! We even went down to 10 men with 20 minutes left in the game and Barca still could not score. My hope is for an exciting match with a lot offensive flow.
Courtois - Reguilon - Varane - Ramos - Odriozola - Casemiro - Ceballos - Modric - Vinicius - Benzema - Lucas.
When this tie was drawn up, I was not confident at all in going through. Solari has turned this team around, and this team now exudes confidence. Still, let's not take Ajax lightly, it's the CL, anything can happen.
Ajax is really bad last games guys, but Champions League is always something else. Ajax doesnt get any space in the Eredivisie, they normally park the bus, Real wont do that so Ajax can get in their game if we dont watch out. Seeing the new guys stand up and our overall quality on the field and the bench, I expect us too win this by close margine, lets hope for another bycicle kick from Benz in the Arena. Hala Madrid!
Here's to not underestimating Ajax no matter what their current form. Professional performance from our boys and we should be good.
We should approach the game with the same intensity we've had the past few weeks. The last thing we need is to underestimate any opponent and end up with an unfavorable result. Get the win and if we can keep a clean sheet, even better.
So it seems none of you are bothered by the “a por la decimotercera” in the OP?! What is this, 2018???