How Ajax lined up in last Champions League knockout tie including De Ligt, Van de Beek, De Jong and Ziyech
AJAX are set to take on Benfica in the knockout stages of the Champions League on Wednesday.
The last knockout game Ajax played in the competition was in the 2018-19 season when they reached the semi-finals.
In that campaign, Ajax played 18 times winning ten, drawing six and losing just two.
The Dutch giants claimed the scalps of Real Madrid and Juventus but were beaten by Tottenham 3-2 in the dying minutes of the second leg of the semis.
Ajax’s squad, managed by Erik ten Hag, housed some of Europe’s biggest talents at the time.
Now Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt was a prominent figure in the dressing room and in 2018 became Ajax’s youngest ever captain.
Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong and Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek were bossing the middle of the park, whilst Hakim Ziyech provided some much needed flair on the right-hand side.
De Ligt and Ziyech got on the scoresheet on the night, but a magical hat-trick by Lucas Moura stunned Ajax in their own back yard.
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On Ajax’s magical cup run that year, De Ligt delivered a powerful speech.
He said: “What’s more important is that we have shown everyone what Ajax is about, what kind of city Amsterdam is.
“We have shown everyone what we stand for and that is attacking football.
“We’ve shown everyone what the big man above us [Johan Cruyff] wanted to see and what he expected from us.
“We did it all together: experienced players, youth players, everyone. And the supporters, we want to thank you for a fantastic season.”
There are a number of players who played on that night against Spurs that COULD feature for Ajax on Wednesday.
Andre Onana, Noussair Mazraoui, Daley Blind and Nicolas Tagliafico could all start.
Former Southampton ace Dusan Tadic is the only attacker left at the club from the semi-final starting XI.
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