Confident Ajax is on the road to Champions League success. Can it repeat the ride of the golden generation?

Ajax Amsterdam, quite possibly the dark horse of this year’s Champions League. Although no one is counting on them to win the trophy, Ajax are on track to repeat the golden generation’s ride from the 2018/19 season.

You will surely remember that season. Ajax conquered Europe with their youngsters in the squad. In the Champions League regular group, they finished second just two points behind Bayern, in the eighth round they got Real Madrid, who had just conquered the millionaire competition three times in a row.

Moreover, Ajax lost 1-2 at home and it looked like it was over. But the youngsters gave a perfect performance at the Santiago Bernabéu, beating the White Ballet 4-1 and moving on. Moreover, in the quarter-finals, Ajax managed to knock out Juventus with Cristiano Ronaldo and continued to amaze.

In the semi-final against Tottenham they won the first away game 1: 0, in the home rematch they were already leading 2: 0 and it seemed to be decided. But Lucas buried Amsterdam’s dreams with a hat-trick and a last goal in the 96th minute. However, the team of De Ligt, de Jong, Van de Beek, Ziyech, Tadic and Nerez won the hearts of all the fans.

After three years, Ajax are looking for another run. It won its group with Sporting, Dortmund and Besiktas without losing a point and scored the second most goals (20) after Bayern. In addition, the squad has the top scorer of the provisional season, Sebastian Haller already has 10 goals.

Coach Erik ten Hag knows exactly what he wants to play with his team and it works perfectly. The offensive trio of Tadic, Haller, Antony is extremely dangerous, and the rest of the team blends experience with predatory youth.

In the eighth round they will face Benfica, who knocked out Barcelona in the group stage. That sounds great, but the fans are not happy with the team at all. In the league, Lisbon are already 12 points behind the hated Porto, and the fans are mainly bothered by their performance.

The promotion to the knockout stage is a small miracle, which Benfica has at least a little bit patched up a bad season in the domestic competition. Moreover, all days are not over, from second place it could have got Real Madrid, Manchester City or Liverpool, but it will face Ajax. The latter, however, is also extremely strong and is the clear favourite.

Source: UEFA