Real Madrid vs Ajax
The second leg of any Champions League knockout game is always going to be an engaging occasion for the most passionate of fans and the neutrals who think that the game is feisty enough to catch. Depending on how the first leg went, the second leg could either be a victory lap for a full-on battle with competition progression on the line.
You can say that the latter is expected at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid welcome a young Ajax squad that is eager for revenge. There’s no doubt that they still remember what Sergio Ramos and Los Blancos did on the way to narrowly win the game, and they will be eager for revenge.
Expect some fiery Champions League 2019 highlights as these two ambitious sides come to a head. Whether this ends in delight or sorrow for the victory-hungry Madridistas would be up to the eleven players in white.
Talking Points
Can a Ramos-less Real pull it off?
It has to be emphasised that the white side of Madrid probably just finished the toughest week of the year for them. The fact that they failed to win any El Clasico after two golden opportunities in a week must have been a painful realisation that they no longer are the dominant giants they once were.
Be it a statement of pure confidence or hard-headedness, Santiago Solari still believes that the Madrid giants can win a fourth straight Champions League title with the team they have. This writer believes that they can definitely pull that off if they focus all of their attention away from Spain, but a club as big as Madrid are greedy; they want to win it all.
A quick look at the team will make you think that they can definitely win it all. They still have prolific midfielders in Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are still scoring goals like nobody’s business whenever they are abroad. Ajax’s task of scoring goals would still be difficult with Thibaut Courtois and Keylor Navas available to play in between the sticks. Vinicius Junior is an electrifying injection of energy that can play well when needed.
However, they will be playing this all-important match without Sergio Ramos.
The Spain and Madrid captain got five yellow cards and is suspended for the second leg. However, UEFA felt that his card was intentional to clear his books of yellow cards. They gave him a double whammy with an additional suspension that will keep him out for the first game of the next leg if they ever make it past Lucky Ajax.
It will now be up to the defenders to hold off Ajax’s young guns as they try to protect the one away-goal lead they got at the Johan Cruijff Arena. Casemiro and Raphael Varane would have to do some heavy lifting on the defensive end while Nacho Fernandez will have to stand in for Real’s number 4.
I don’t think they will want to disappoint their most passionate fans with another blunder after the two painful losses they experienced. However, I can’t say with certainty that they will cruise past their opponents.
Can this young Ajax team rise to the occasion?
One of the biggest problems of fielding a very young team is that it’s hard to keep them composed whenever they play in big contests against better competition. However, you wouldn’t find this problem running rampant with a team such as Ajax.
For a team whose average age is two years younger than their hosts, de Godenzonen have played exceptionally well in one of the biggest stages in club football. They cruised through the Champions League group stage without a single loss. They almost took the top spot if it wasn’t for an exhilarating 3-3 draw with Bayern Munich in their last game.
The similarity with the Bayern game and their first-leg loss was that they weren’t able to close out the game. Nicolas Tagliafico had to pull off a superb strike deep into added time to secure the draw versus Bayern while Hakim Ziyech was the only goalscorer for the Dutch side versus Madrid.
The young guns must step up their game if they want to break the hearts of Madrid even more. Barcelona-bound Frenkie de Jong must step up defensively and stop Benzema and Bale from scoring. The same is also expected from Matthijs de Ligt. Dusan Tadic will be leading with his experience from the front, but Noussair Mazraoui and Carel Eiting must shake off the jitters if they want to win.
They already freed up their schedule in order to fully prepare for Madrid. It will be up to them to actually pull off another away victory and make thousands of Madrid fans cry with frustration.
History
The two European powerhouses have only met each other seven times in the Champions League, and Real Madrid have always swept the floor with Ajax. All of their last six wins since 2019 saw Los Blancos win by at least two goals.
I’m sure that some Real Madrid vs Ajax betting odds are already tipped towards the hosts, but it is important to take note of the manner Madrid won their latest duel.
It was a game wherein possession was equal between both sides, and Ajax actually looked more dominant for a good chunk of the match. However, Tagliafico’s disallowed header brought a lot of hullabaloo regarding the match.
Betting Tip
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Real Madrid vs Ajax | Ajax First Half Asian Handicap +0.25 @ 2.21 |
| March 06, 04:00 (GMT+8) |
This scribe is certain that Real Madrid will want to come out of the gates running to force their poor run of form out of their system, and the SBOBET Champions League markets are set up with that mentality in mind. However, there is a reason to believe that Ajax will not allow them such a luxury.
Given the way that they failed to dominate against Ajax in the first leg, I am led to believe that more of the same will happen in this leg. It also doesn’t help that Ramos is ruled out of the contest. There is no reason to doubt that Ajax should at least be able to score goals.
Madrid should be able to cling to their away-goal lead and crawl their way to the next stage of the competition, but I believe that they will struggle against the prodigious talent of Ajax’s defence. The first half should end in a draw, and either Benzema or Modric will be able to settle the score in the second half.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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