Ajax face Juventus on Tuesday looking to stun the Italian giants and book their place in the Champions League semifinals. Kick-off in Turin is 8pm.
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Ajax were excellent during the first-leg last week but fell behind to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal. However, David Neres equalised early in the second half to ensure that Ajax still have a chance in Turin.
On Saturday, Ajax continued their march towards to the Eredivisie title with a 6-2 over Excelsior. Erik ten Hag decided not to rest key players and there are now doubts over the fitness of Frenkie de Jong.
Ten Hag told his press conference that he is optimistic that De Jong will play, “We look at it from hour to hour and from day to day. It must be a responsible risk. I can’t look into his body. He will determine whether I will install it or not. He is positive. We are also in a positive way. “
The Ajax boss admitted that Juventus are favourites but believes his side can cause an upset, “Of course Juventus is a favorite, they were already in advance.
“We know that we have to score here and push them back. If we are good, we can achieve something. We also saw that in Amsterdam. We also have areas for improvement, such as effectiveness. We were in control of large parts of the competition last week, but due to a lack of effectiveness in front of goal we did not win and it became 1-1.”
Juventus rested several players at the weekend. They lost 2-1 at SPAL but with a huge lead in Serie A, their focus is completely on the Champions League.
Ten Hag expects a different performance from the Juventus we saw last week, “What is known about their coach is that he is very well prepared for matches. We take into account that they will do something else. This team is even better than Real Madrid, very mature too. We will have to cross a border tomorrow in order to win. ”
The winner of Tuesday’s clash progresses to the semi-finals to face either Manchester City or Tottenham.
Team News
Frenkie de Jong is in the squad for Tuesday’s clash and is expected to start after taking part in training. Erik ten Hag will be without the suspended Nicolas Tagliafico, but Noussair Mazraoui is back after missing the first-leg.
Possible Ajax line-up: Onana, Mazraoui, Veltman, Blind, De Ligt, Schone, Frenkie, van de Beek, Neres, Ziyech, Tadic
Juventus will once again be without key defender Giorgio Chiellini, while Mario Mandzukic is also out. Douglas Costa is a major doubt but Emre Can is progressing well from his injury and could feature.
Possible Juventus line-up: Szczesny; Cancelo, Bonnuci, Rugani, Sandro; Pjanic, Bentancur, Matuidi; Bernardeschi, Ronaldo, Dybala
Odds
Juventus 8/11 Draw 14/5 Ajax 9/2
Ajax needs to be switched on in Turin
Ajax may have dominated Juventus last week but the Italian’s punished one error in the first-half to get what could be a crucial away goal.
If Ajax have any chance of progressing they need to replicate the performance in Madrid. If they can take their chances in front of goal and keep it tight at defence, there is no reason why Ajax can’t book their place in the semi-finals.
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