Ajax Vs Juventus Match Prediction: The Old Lady will be aiming to take away goals to their backyard Allianz Stadium.
Ajax will face off Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals at Johan Cruyff Arena on Wednesday. The Dutch outfit failed to qualify for this tournament last season, whereas, Real Madrid knocked out the reigning Serie A Champions in the last eight of the competition last term.
The hosts lost their first leg to Real Madrid in the previous round, but they bounced back at the away turf. They produced a scintillating display and pummeled them 4-1 at Santiago Bernabeu to enter the last eight of the competition. The same blueprint emerged for Juventus, when they lost 2-0 in the first leg, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick in the second leg at Turin changed the fortunes for Massimiliano Allegri’s side.
Ajax Vs Juventus – What numbers suggest?
These sides have met 12 times in the Champions League till date with Juventus winning it on half of the occasions. The scoreline was not able to separate these two sides on four occasions, and the Dutch outfit were able to overcome the Italian heavyweights only twice in their history of the competition.
Since that first leg defeat to Atletico Madrid at Wanda Metropolitano, Juventus have won seven out of the last eight games in all competitions, including the breathtaking display against the Spanish outfit in the second leg. Ajax, on the other hand, have won five out of their last six games since that dramatic performance against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu last month.
Ajax Vs Juventus – Paper Value
There is no denial that Juventus have far more individual quality at stake than Ajax. But, on their day, Erik ten Hag’s side are capable of running the show and going past opponents with much ease. They proved their mettle against Real Madrid in the previous round by sticking as a team to obstruct the Los Blancos from reaching the Quarterfinals. With the likes of Frenkie De Jong, Matthijs De Ligt, Hakim Ziyech, David Neres, and Dusan Tadic, they have got enough firepower to cause destruction to their opponents.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored only one goal in the Champions League, before netting three against Atletico Madrid in the second leg. The Old Lady were sweating on his fitness, and the Portuguese fitness has trained with the rest of the squad on Tuesday, making himself available for this huge clash. Apart from Ronaldo, Miralem Pjanic, Emre Can, Joao Cancelo, Moise Kean and Giorgio Chiellini are the other players in supreme form and confidence ahead of this clash. However, Can and Chiellini have not made the trip to the Netherlands because of injuries.
Ajax’s inexperienced could be caught on guard by the Juventus team which comprises of Cristiano Ronaldo, who could prove to be the difference.
PREDICTED SCORE: Ajax 1-2 Juventus
