Real Madrid are well placed to reach a ninth successive UEFA Champions League quarter-final as they welcome Ajax, who are up against it given both the position of the tie and their recent record at the Santiago Bernabéu.
• Goals from Karim Benzema (60) and substitute Marco Asensio (87) either side of Hakim Ziyech’s 75th-minute equaliser for the home side gave Real Madrid a 2-1 win at the Johan Crujiff ArenA on 13 February – making it four successive away victories in the UEFA Champions League’s knockout rounds – and six in a row outside Spain.
• Madrid have won the last three editions of the UEFA Champions League and have won their last nine two-legged knockout ties in the competition, since defeat by Juventus in the 2014/15 semi-finals.
• The Spanish club have continued their record of appearing in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 every year since its introduction in 2003/04 – and have not lost a tie at this juncture in nine years.
• In contrast, Ajax have reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2005/06 but have never won at this stage of the UEFA Champions League. Furthermore, Ajax have lost their last seven games to Real Madrid, conceding 22 goals while scoring only three.
Previous meetings
• The teams have met 13 times in UEFA competition – all in the European Cup – Real Madrid winning eight and Ajax four with only one draw, 1-1 in the first encounter in Amsterdam in the 1967/68 European Cup first round first leg. Madrid won the second leg 2-1 in Spain to progress.
• Ajax won the next four fixtures between the sides, in the semi-final of their victorious 1972/73 European Cup campaign (2-1 home, 1-0 away) and, as holders, in the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League group stage (1-0 home, 2-0 away), when they went on to reach another final. In the latter campaign, Marc Overmars – now Ajax’s director of player affairs – scored the only goal in Amsterdam with Edwin van der Sar (now Ajax’s general director) and Danny Blind, father of Daley, playing in both games.
• Madrid have dominated recent contests between the sides, beating Ajax home and away in the group stage in 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13. They have scored nine goals in their last three matches with Ajax at the Santiago Bernabéu, conceding only one.
• Daley Blind played in both the sides’ 2012/13 games, Lasse Schöne coming on as a first-half substitute in Madrid’s 4-1 home win.
• Karim Benzema was on target in Madrid’s win at Ajax in October 2012 having also found the net in a 4-0 success in Amsterdam in November 2010 and in Madrid’s 3-0 home victory against Ajax the following September.
Form guide
Real Madrid
• This is Real Madrid’s 23rd UEFA Champions League campaign – and the 23rd in which they have reached the knockout phase.
• Madrid are holders and 13-time champions. Semi-finalists or better in each of the last eight seasons, this is their 49th European Cup campaign – more than any other side.
• Madrid are looking to reach the quarter-finals for the ninth successive year. Their round of 16 record is W9 L6; they lost at this stage for six years in a row between 2005 and 2010 but have won their last eight ties.
• In 2017/18, Madrid beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 at home and 2-1 away, Marcelo scoring in the first leg and Casemiro in the second.
• This is the Merengues’ first knockout tie against Dutch opponents since a 2-0 aggregate win (1-0 away, 1-0 home) against Vitesse in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup third round. That made Madrid’s record in two-legged contests with Eredivisie clubs W6 L3; their last aggregate defeat came on away goals against PSV Eindhoven in the 1987/88 European Champion Clubs’ Cup semi-final (1-1 home, 0-0 away).
• Madrid have won their last five home matches against Dutch visitors since their 1995 defeat by Ajax; the Merengues’ overall record at home to Eredivisie clubs is W10 D1 L2.
• This season, Madrid finished top of Group G with 12 points despite losing both games against bottom side CSKA Moskva – including a 3-0 reverse at the BernabĂ©u on matchday six that was the club’s heaviest home European defeat.
• Madrid have still lost only six of their last 40 European matches, home and away, winning 27.
• Defeat against CSKA in their last home match made it two losses in Madrid’s last five European BernabĂ©u fixtures – although they have been beaten in only three of their last 45 UEFA Champions League home matches (W36). They went down 4-3 to Schalke in their 2014/15 round of 16 second leg and 3-1 against Juventus in last season’s quarter-final second leg, but still won both ties on aggregate.
• Madrid have lost only one of the 34 UEFA competition ties in which they won the first leg away from home, most recently beating Bayern MĂĽnchen in last season’s semi-finals (2-1 away, 2-2 home). The exception came against Odense in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup third round when a 3-2 away success preceded a 2-0 home reverse.
• Madrid’s record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
5-3 v Atlético Madrid, 2015/16 UEFA Champions League final
1-3 v Bayern MĂĽnchen, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League semi-final
3-1 v Juventus, 1986/87 European Champion Clubs’ Cup second round
5-6 v Crvena zvezda, 1974/75 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final
Ajax
• The 2005/06 tie against Internazionale is Ajax’s sole previous UEFA Champions League round of 16 contest; the Dutch club drew 2-2 in the home first leg – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar opening the scoring – before a 1-0 defeat in Milan.
• Ajax’s last UEFA Champions League quarter-final came in 2002/03, when they were beaten 3-2 at AC Milan having drawn the home first leg 0-0.
• The Dutch club are without a win in their last seven UEFA Champions League knockout phase fixtures (D2 L5), since a 3-2 victory at Atlético Madrid in the 1996/97 quarter-final second leg that completed a 4-3 aggregate success.
• Ajax have lost all three UEFA Champions League away games in the knockout phase since winning at Atlético; they had won the previous three and were unbeaten in five (D2).
• Ajax’s last experience of Spanish opposition before the first leg came in the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League group stage, when they drew 2-2 at Celta Vigo before a 3-2 home victory.
• The Amsterdammers have won only two of their last 15 games against Spanish opponents (D1 L12). The 2-2 draw at Celta ended a run of six successive defeats in Spain, where Ajax have not won since that Atlético tie (D2 L7).
• Ajax’s record in two-legged knockout ties against Spanish clubs is W7 L2, the most recent a 3-0 aggregate loss (0-1 home, 0-2 away) against Mallorca in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round.
• Ajax were unbeaten in Europe in 2018/19 – a run of 12 matches (W7 D5) – before their first-leg defeat. They won their first away game at Sturm Graz in the second qualifying round (3-1), drawing the next four – including at Bayern München and Benfica in Group E, both 1-1 – before a 2-0 success at AEK Athens on matchday five.
• Ajax are the sole side still involved who came through qualifying. The other 15 participants in the round of 16 all entered the competition at the group stage.
• Ajax are one of only two sides to win a tie in the UEFA Champions League proper having lost the home first leg, against Panathinaikos in the 1995/96 semi-finals (0-1 home, 3-0 away).
• That is only one of two ties in which Ajax have won on aggregate after losing the home first leg; they have lost the other 12 contests. Those aggregate defeats include two in which the first game in Amsterdam finished 1-2, both against Juventus; in the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League semi-final (1-4 away) and the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (0-0 away).
• Ajax’s record in six UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L5:
2-4 v Steaua BucureĹźti, 2012/13 UEFA Europa League round of 32
2-4 Juventus, 1995/96 UEFA Champions League final
4-3 v GrĂŞmio, 1995 European/South American Cup
2-4 v Bohemians Praha, 1984/85 UEFA Cup second round
0-3 v Juventus, 1977/78 European Champion Clubs’ Cup quarter-final
3-5 v Levski Sofia, 1975/76 UEFA Cup third round
Links and trivia
• This is one of only two ties in the round of 16 not featuring a reigning domestic champion, the other being Tottenham-Dortmund.
• Klaas-Jan Huntelaar joined Madrid from Ajax in January 2009, scoring eight goals in 20 appearances before leaving six months later. The Dutch striker faced the Merengues four times with Schalke, scoring three goals including two at the BernabĂ©u in the German side’s 4-3 victory in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League round of 16 – a tie his club lost 5-4 on aggregate.
• Nicolás Tagliafico spent 2012/13 on loan in Spain with second division side Real Murcia.
• André Onana came through the Barcelona academy but never made a first-team appearance before joining Ajax in 2015.
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