Champions League: Get ready for the second leg of the Ajax - Benfica clash

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Competition: Europe Champions League
Competition: Tue 15.March
Match begins: 20:00 (UTC)
Venue: Johan Cruijff Arena (54990 seats)

There's no exiting this stadium without a winner tonight as it's the second leg of the Champions League 8th Finals meeting between Ajax and Benfica. Game on!

These teams have little in common geographically as Benfica have to travel 2200 kilometers to reach their opponents. The trip home will be especially long if the match ends in defeat.

It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Ajax and Benfica.

W W W L D

Ajax form and stats

Last season their Champions League adventure ended in the group stage.

The home supporters can't complain about results here at Johan Cruijff Arena as Ajax have scored 49 goals to get 31 points from 13 games. The overall stats in the Eredivisie are 10-1-2 (wins-draws-losses). This match is a Champions League match, and the hometeam has the total statistics 6 wins, 1 draw and 0 losses in this competition.

It's back home for Ajax, who return with a good feeling about themselves after beating SC Cambuur away with the result 3-2. Tadić, Haller and Gravenberch found the net in that victory. Gravenberch (midfield was the top team player in that game with a rating of 9.25/10. Gravenberch scored one goal, signed up for two assists, hit three key passes, dribled past the opponent 2 of 2 times and had 77 successful passes (of 81 total).

Before that, Ajax had a Eredivisie home game versus RKC Waalwijk which ended with a victory 3-2.

Ajax are believed to win this game, given a winning chance of about 70% by the bookmakers. We have checked our records for their performance in similar circumstances and found six matches and the win/draw/lost stats: Won six, drew zero and lost zero.

Ajax always seem capable of creating a buzz here at Johan Cruijff Arena with 49 goals in 13 league games. Ajax have showed great defending skills in these home games, allowing the opposition to score only 5 goals.

D W W D D

Benfica form and stats

They also participated in Europa League last season. This ended in the 16th finals, when Arsenal drew the shortest straw.

Benfica have an excellent away record in the Primeira Liga so far with 10-2-1 from 13 games. The mentioned statistics is only from the league, looking at the Champions League stats, they have 5 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses both home and away.

Benfica delivered a 1-1 draw playing at home against Vizela in their previous match. Defender Vertonghen was the best team player with a rating of 8.11. Vertonghen hit one key pass and won 7 of 11 duels.

Prior to that result Benfica won their away game at Portimonense in the Primeira Liga. The scoreline was 2-1.

Benfica are a potent attacking force on the road with their 35 goals in 13 league games. It's been trouble in front of goal recently, as only 2 of these goals has been scored in their last three away matches. They concede less than a goal on average per away game (11 so far).

Head 2 Head

The dueling parties have battled earlier this season: Benfica - Ajax 2-2. As for the last three games between these two teams, there's one Ajax victory, two draws and zero Benfica wins. Over/under statistics; one of these games ended with three goals or more, two matches with two goals or less.

Top Goalscorers

BenficaD. Núñez Ribeiro
D. Núñez Ribeiro
20 goals
AjaxS. Haller
S. Haller
19 goals
AjaxD. Tadić
D. Tadić
9 goals

Ajax missing players

Benfica missing players

Total First Half Second Half
Ajax Benfica
Total Home   Statistics Stat   Away Total
25 12   Played P   10 25
20 10   Won W   5 13
3 1   Drew D   2 6
2 1   Lost L   3 6
76 49   Scored S   23 60
15 6   Conceded C   16 32
92% 92%   Over 0.5 O 0.5   90% 96%
84% 92%   Over 1.5 O 1.5   90% 96%
76% 92%   Over 2.5 O 2.5   80% 72%
52% 75%   Over 3.5 O 3.5   60% 44%
40% 67%   Over 4.5 O 4.5   30% 24%
36% 25%   BTTS BTTS   60% 68%
64% 75%   Clean Sheets C S   30% 28%
8% 8%   Failed to Score F T   20% 8%
 
7 8.3   Corners for (avg) C F   5 6
2.5 1.3   Corners against (avg) C A   4.8 4.2
1.2 1.2   Yellow cards (avg) Y C   2.5 2.4
0 0   Red cards R C   2 3
 
19.7 23.4   Shots (avg) S (   11.5 13.7
7.9 9.9   Shots on Target (avg) S O   5.2 5.4
38% 41%   Goal Efficiency G E   44% 44%
 
7 4.9   Shots against (avg) S A   11.7 11.6
2.2 1.7   Shots on Target against (avg) S O   3.8 4

  Total Home Away  
# Team MP W D L F A MP W D L F A MP W D L F A +/- P
1 Ajax 26 20 3 3 77 11 13 10 1 2 49 5 13 10 2 1 28 6 66 63
2 PSV 25 19 1 5 62 31 13 10 0 3 35 18 12 9 1 2 27 13 31 58
3 Feyenoord 25 16 4 5 57 23 13 9 2 2 32 12 12 7 2 3 25 11 34 52
4 AZ 25 16 3 6 50 29 12 9 2 1 28 12 13 7 1 5 22 17 21 51
5 FC Twente 25 14 6 5 39 30 12 7 4 1 18 8 13 7 2 4 21 22 9 48
6 FC Utrecht 25 11 7 7 43 32 12 7 4 1 27 13 13 4 3 6 16 19 11 40
7 Vitesse 24 12 4 8 32 38 12 5 2 5 15 22 12 7 2 3 17 16 -6 40
8 SC Cambuur 26 10 3 13 43 55 13 5 1 7 25 29 13 5 2 6 18 26 -12 33
9 NEC 25 8 7 10 30 39 12 2 4 6 12 18 13 6 3 4 18 21 -9 31
10 FC Groningen 25 7 9 9 28 33 12 3 6 3 10 9 13 4 3 6 18 24 -5 30
11 Go Ahead Eagles 25 7 6 12 27 42 13 5 1 7 17 21 12 2 5 5 10 21 -15 27
12 Heracles 25 7 5 13 27 35 13 7 3 3 19 13 12 0 2 10 8 22 -8 26
13 SC Heerenveen 25 7 5 13 22 36 13 3 2 8 12 21 12 4 3 5 10 15 -14 26
14 RKC Waalwijk 25 5 8 12 28 42 12 4 1 7 11 21 13 1 7 5 17 21 -14 23
15 Willem II 25 6 4 15 21 43 13 4 2 7 10 18 12 2 2 8 11 25 -22 22
16 PEC Zwolle 25 5 5 15 19 39 12 2 4 6 8 13 13 3 1 9 11 26 -20 20
17 Fortuna Sittard 24 5 4 15 25 53 11 3 2 6 13 24 13 2 2 9 12 29 -28 19
18 Sparta Rotterdam 23 3 8 12 18 37 13 2 5 6 11 19 10 1 3 6 7 18 -19 17
  Total Home Away  
# Team MP W D L F A MP W D L F A MP W D L F A +/- P
1 Porto 25 21 4 0 63 19 12 10 2 0 30 9 13 11 2 0 33 10 44 67
2 Sporting CP 25 19 4 2 49 16 13 11 1 1 24 5 12 8 3 1 25 11 33 61
3 Benfica 26 18 4 4 66 24 13 8 2 3 31 13 13 10 2 1 35 11 42 58
4 Sporting Braga 25 13 7 5 41 24 13 7 4 2 22 10 12 6 3 3 19 14 17 46
5 Gil Vicente 25 11 9 5 36 25 13 5 4 4 19 15 12 6 5 1 17 10 11 42
6 Vitoria Guimaraes 25 9 6 10 35 34 12 7 2 3 23 15 13 2 4 7 12 19 1 33
7 Maritimo 25 8 8 9 30 32 12 3 6 3 14 11 13 5 2 6 16 21 -2 32
8 Estoril 25 7 10 8 28 30 12 2 6 4 15 17 13 5 4 4 13 13 -2 31
9 Portimonense 25 7 8 10 25 28 13 2 4 7 10 17 12 5 4 3 15 11 -3 29
10 Santa Clara 25 7 8 10 30 43 13 6 4 3 18 21 12 1 4 7 12 22 -13 29
11 Pacos de Ferreira 25 6 9 10 22 31 13 3 5 5 14 18 12 3 4 5 8 13 -9 27
12 Famalicao 25 6 8 11 32 40 12 3 5 4 13 14 13 3 3 7 19 26 -8 26
13 Boavista 25 4 14 7 31 39 13 3 9 1 18 15 12 1 5 6 13 24 -8 26
14 Vizela 26 5 10 11 28 44 13 3 5 5 12 17 13 2 5 6 16 27 -16 25
15 Arouca 25 5 7 13 23 45 12 3 2 7 11 26 13 2 5 6 12 19 -22 22
16 Tondela 25 6 3 16 31 48 13 4 1 8 18 25 12 2 2 8 13 23 -17 21
17 Moreirense 25 4 8 13 23 40 12 3 3 6 15 17 13 1 5 7 8 23 -17 20
18 Belenenses 25 3 7 15 15 46 12 3 2 7 10 26 13 0 5 8 5 20 -31 16

Table
  Total Home Away  
# Team MP W D L F A MP W D L F A MP W D L F A +/- P
1 Porto 25 21 4 0 63 19 12 10 2 0 30 9 13 11 2 0 33 10 44 67
2 Sporting CP 25 19 4 2 49 16 13 11 1 1 24 5 12 8 3 1 25 11 33 61
3 Benfica 26 18 4 4 66 24 13 8 2 3 31 13 13 10 2 1 35 11 42 58
4 Sporting Braga 25 13 7 5 41 24 13 7 4 2 22 10 12 6 3 3 19 14 17 46
5 Gil Vicente 25 11 9 5 36 25 13 5 4 4 19 15 12 6 5 1 17 10 11 42
6 Vitoria Guimaraes 25 9 6 10 35 34 12 7 2 3 23 15 13 2 4 7 12 19 1 33
7 Maritimo 25 8 8 9 30 32 12 3 6 3 14 11 13 5 2 6 16 21 -2 32
8 Estoril 25 7 10 8 28 30 12 2 6 4 15 17 13 5 4 4 13 13 -2 31
9 Portimonense 25 7 8 10 25 28 13 2 4 7 10 17 12 5 4 3 15 11 -3 29
10 Santa Clara 25 7 8 10 30 43 13 6 4 3 18 21 12 1 4 7 12 22 -13 29
11 Pacos de Ferreira 25 6 9 10 22 31 13 3 5 5 14 18 12 3 4 5 8 13 -9 27
12 Famalicao 25 6 8 11 32 40 12 3 5 4 13 14 13 3 3 7 19 26 -8 26
13 Boavista 25 4 14 7 31 39 13 3 9 1 18 15 12 1 5 6 13 24 -8 26
14 Vizela 26 5 10 11 28 44 13 3 5 5 12 17 13 2 5 6 16 27 -16 25
15 Arouca 25 5 7 13 23 45 12 3 2 7 11 26 13 2 5 6 12 19 -22 22
16 Tondela 25 6 3 16 31 48 13 4 1 8 18 25 12 2 2 8 13 23 -17 21
17 Moreirense 25 4 8 13 23 40 12 3 3 6 15 17 13 1 5 7 8 23 -17 20
18 Belenenses 25 3 7 15 15 46 12 3 2 7 10 26 13 0 5 8 5 20 -31 16

More from Europe - Champions League

Read more about Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is the major international club football tournament in Europe. The competition begins already in late June and lasts for almost a year, ending with the final played in late May or early June. After several qualifying rounds the group stage is where the “true” Champions League begins for many viewers. Eight groups with four teams each battle through six rounds to qualify for the knock-out phase. Then a round of 16, quarterfinals and then semifinals needs to be won before a place in the final is secured.