You mean the one where he dribbles along the right-wing, turns inside and shoots a curler into the left-corner of the goal?? That one??
de Jong (calf injury), Wöber (illness forced him off the team sheet Saturday) and Gravenberch are all in the traveling squad of 22 for the Bayern game. Four players need to be dropped for the game day team.
Based on the opening win against AEK, 538 now has Ajax at 63% to finish in the top two (10% to win and 53% to finish second). So far so good. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/champions-league/ On the other hand, Bayern is a pretty prohibitive favorite to win the tie: 70%. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/champions-league/
^^ A draw would be a very good outcome IMO. de Jong might be a game time decision and the MF will be crucial to keeping this game close. Bayern have struggled in their past two matches but of course have tremendous talent with almost every starter on an NT side. It should be a fun night of football.
The Ajax line-up tonight according to AD. No Frenkie de Jong. Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Blind, Tagliafico, Schöne, Van de Beek, Ziyech, Tadic, Neres, Huntelaar
Ajax women drew top seeded Lyon in the Women's CL. Not a good draw but Ajax had the lowest coefficient of teams in the draw.
Ajax 10 minutes after the break should have had a 1-3 score. With better aiming it could have ended in a disastrous evening for Bayern.
Our best game in the last 5 years hands down. Can't believe it's the same team that played against PSV and Fortuna. The two-faced god Janus is our deity. Keep up the good work guys.
This is what football is all about. The passion and the effort from your team when they are up against an opponent who have better players. Ajax put in a massive shift from all the players and I'll confess that ten Hag had the tactics right. Defense made all the big stops and even though Ajax were poor passing in the MF they created more dangerous chances on goal than Bayern. Ajax are now STAY TOP OF THE TABLE. Player Ratings: ten Hag (8.5) - I had my doubts when I saw the starting lineup but it was the right lineup. I had my doubts about de Wit coming on but it was the right decision; I had doubts about Dolberg coming on but it was the right decision. Onana (8) - commanded the box Tagliafico (7) - had more of the ball in the first half and saw little when Ajax went bunker down Wöber (7.5) - great match and has to be considered as a starter along side de Ligt el Capitan de Ligt (8) - Rock solid and some great interventions Mazraoui (7.5) - really fine game, except.............................I think he was supposed to mark Hummels on the goal Schöne (6.5) - played super hard but just not quick enough for the Bayern MF Blind (6.5) - slowness really showed but as with Schöne played his heart out van de Beek (6) - great game, except...........................should have done better on the shot that went wide Ziyech (8) - a rocket that forced Neuer into a great save and boy did he ever play defense tonight Tadic (8) - all over the field tonight Neres (7) - had some good moments in the first half and very quiet in the second de Wit (6) - put in a good shift and was decent on the ball late Dolberg (6) - drew a foul at a critical time Whew, I'm now out of breath and wonder what team will come out against AZ on the weekend.
When is the last time Ajax were top of the table in the CL?? You probably have to go back to the 90's or something
Strong performance all around! The only disappointment was the lack of goal to win the match. Tadic's miss on close range with only Neuer to beat was a pity, given his quality. Then there was V.d. Beek went inches wide. Tagliafico had his saved. Schone free-kick saved and bounce off the upper bar. Also, another Tadic's shot went to sky in the first half (although this one was from a difficult angle). Missed chances sucked, but all things considered, a point in an away game against the powerhouse of the group is a welcomed result! De Ligt was fantastic, rock solid and impenetrable. Onana played well, and kept his cool (I cringed whenever he was on the ball, it took him eternity to get rid of). Ziyech was probably my MoTM given his excellent movement throughout the match. Bonus track... ex-Ajax Justin Kluivert scored (his first goal with AS Roma, I believe?)
Looking at the updated projections from 538, Ajax's overall probability of advancing hasn't really changed, but our changes of winning the group have more than doubled - from 10% - 21%. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/champions-league/
I don't follow the Portugese league closely, so I don't know what Benfica's form is or will be, but we were a bit fortunate in catching Bayern at a down moment. From what I read, Bayern fans seemed pretty unhappy with having Ribery and Robben start over Gnabry and Rodriguez.
They can be unhappy, but I donot see what those two bring more to the table than Robbery, other than being younger. That Rodrigues guy hasnot done anything since the WC2014 that's worth to mention and Gnabry I judge to be below Bayern grade.