Ajax and Sporting CP spectators can't wait for Champions League clash

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Competition: Europe Champions League
Competition: Tue 07.December
Match begins: 20:00 (UTC)
Venue: Johan Cruijff Arena (54990 seats)

International cups are a highlight for most teams. Both Ajax and Sporting CP are looking forward to this Champions League fight to decide who advances from the Group Stage.

The visiting Sporting CP played their last game only four days ago, a Primeira Liga match. That game was also an away game, at Benfica. It will be interesting to see if they are fully ready and rested for this match, and/or if some changes in the lineup is necessary.

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

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Ajax form and stats

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

Ajax are steadily winning Eredivisie games and points here at Johan Cruijff Arena. 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat is the summary from 8 games. This match is a Champions League match, and the hometeam has the total statistics 5 wins, 0 draws and 0 losses in this competition.

Nothing to worry about in defence for Ajax, as their goalkeeper Andre Onana has completely shut out the opponents for 643 minutes in the Eredivisie.

Ajax's previous game was a Eredivisie match also played at home, ending 5-0 versus Willem II. The home side are looking to build on that result. As indicated by the result mentioned above, Ajax played a great game against Willem II and beat them comfortably. Expectations are high for this one. Antony, who usually features in attack, was the declared top player for the team in that match, scoring a rating of 8.83 (out of 10). Antony scored two goals, hit the woodwork once, hit two key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times.

In the preceding match a 1-0 victory visiting Sparta Rotterdam.

Ajax always seem capable of creating a buzz here at Johan Cruijff Arena with 32 goals in 8 league games. Ajax have showed great defending skills in these home games, allowing the opposition to score only 1 goal.

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Sporting CP form and stats

Sporting CP was sent out of Europa League in the play-offs last season.

Rock solid. That's the only way to describe the travels of Sporting CP so far, with 5-1-0 (wins-draws-losses) so far. Those are Primeira Liga statistics. The mentioned statistics is only from the league, looking at the Champions League stats, they have 3 wins, 0 draws and 2 losses both home and away. In general it has been a productive period now for Sporting CP as they haven't lost any of their last 14 games.

It's the second away game in a row for Sporting CP, but there's smiles all around after the 3-1 victory versus Benfica in the Primeira Liga last time out. Midfield player Matheus Nunes was the top player of the team with a match rating of 8.42/10. Nunes scored one goal, served one assist, hit one key pass and dribled past the opponent 3 of 5 times.

A home win before that, celebrating 2-0 vs Tondela.

The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Boavista in just four days.

Sporting CP are not goal shy away from home in the league, finding the net 11 times in 6 away games so far. It's not easy to score on Sporting CP as they have only conceded 4 goals from these away games.

Head 2 Head

Here's what happened when the squads met earlier this season; Sporting CP - Ajax 1-5.

Top Goalscorers

AjaxS. Haller
S. Haller
9 goals
AjaxD. Tadić
D. Tadić
6 goals
AjaxA. dos Santos
A. dos Santos
5 goals

Ajax missing players

Sporting CP missing players

Total First Half Second Half
Ajax Sporting CP
Total Home   Statistics Stat   Away Total
25 12   Played P   9 25
18 9   Won W   7 21
5 1   Drew D   1 2
2 2   Lost L   1 2
73 42   Scored S   19 54
12 5   Conceded C   6 19
92% 92%   Over 0.5 O 0.5   100% 100%
84% 83%   Over 1.5 O 1.5   78% 80%
60% 75%   Over 2.5 O 2.5   56% 56%
52% 67%   Over 3.5 O 3.5   33% 32%
32% 42%   Over 4.5 O 4.5   11% 16%
24% 0%   BTTS BTTS   56% 52%
68% 83%   Clean Sheets C S   33% 44%
16% 25%   Failed to Score F T   11% 4%
 
6 5.9   Corners for (avg) C F   6.6 5.5
2.9 2   Corners against (avg) C A   4.4 3.7
0.9 0.7   Yellow cards (avg) Y C   3.4 2.9
1 1   Red cards R C   1 1
 
17.8 21.5   Shots (avg) S (   12.8 13.5
6.9 8.1   Shots on Target (avg) S O   5.6 5.9
42% 43%   Goal Efficiency G E   33% 35%
 
8.4 7.2   Shots against (avg) S A   11.1 8.6
3 2.7   Shots on Target against (avg) S O   4.4 3.2

  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 5 5 0 0 16 3 2 2 0 0 6 0 3 3 0 0 10 3 13 15
2 Sporting CP 5 3 0 2 12 8 3 2 0 1 8 6 2 1 0 1 4 2 4 9
3 Borussia Dortmund 5 2 0 3 5 11 2 1 0 1 2 3 3 1 0 2 3 8 -6 6
4 Besiktas 5 0 0 5 3 14 3 0 0 3 3 8 2 0 0 2 0 6 -11 0
  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 15 11 3 1 48 2 8 6 1 1 32 1 7 5 2 0 16 1 46 36
2 Feyenoord 14 10 2 2 33 14 7 6 1 0 19 7 7 4 1 2 14 7 19 32
3 PSV 14 10 1 3 34 21 7 6 0 1 21 11 7 4 1 2 13 10 13 31
4 FC Utrecht 14 8 2 4 29 16 7 6 1 0 22 6 7 2 1 4 7 10 13 26
5 SC Cambuur 14 8 0 6 26 29 7 4 0 3 15 12 7 4 0 3 11 17 -3 24
6 Vitesse 14 7 2 5 14 21 7 2 2 3 7 12 7 5 0 2 7 9 -7 23
7 FC Twente 14 6 4 4 20 18 7 3 3 1 8 5 7 3 1 3 12 13 2 22
8 AZ 14 6 2 6 25 20 6 4 1 1 16 8 8 2 1 5 9 12 5 20
9 Go Ahead Eagles 14 6 2 6 18 23 7 4 0 3 12 9 7 2 2 3 6 14 -5 20
10 NEC 14 5 4 5 19 22 7 2 2 3 8 8 7 3 2 2 11 14 -3 19
11 FC Groningen 15 4 6 5 17 21 7 1 5 1 6 5 8 3 1 4 11 16 -4 18
12 SC Heerenveen 14 5 3 6 17 21 8 3 1 4 11 14 6 2 2 2 6 7 -4 18
13 Willem II 15 5 3 7 16 28 7 3 1 3 6 11 8 2 2 4 10 17 -12 18
14 Heracles 14 4 2 8 15 20 7 4 1 2 10 8 7 0 1 6 5 12 -5 14
15 RKC Waalwijk 14 2 6 6 14 22 7 2 1 4 5 11 7 0 5 2 9 11 -8 12
16 Sparta Rotterdam 14 2 4 8 11 21 8 1 3 4 6 11 6 1 1 4 5 10 -10 10
17 Fortuna Sittard 14 2 3 9 16 34 7 2 1 4 8 19 7 0 2 5 8 15 -18 9
18 PEC Zwolle 15 1 3 11 8 27 7 1 2 4 3 7 8 0 1 7 5 20 -19 6
  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 13 11 2 0 33 8 6 6 0 0 18 3 7 5 2 0 15 5 25 35
2 Sporting CP 13 11 2 0 22 5 7 6 1 0 11 1 6 5 1 0 11 4 17 35
3 Benfica 13 10 1 2 35 10 6 4 0 2 14 7 7 6 1 0 21 3 25 31
4 Sporting Braga 12 6 4 2 21 15 6 3 2 1 13 6 6 3 2 1 8 9 6 22
5 Estoril 12 5 6 1 18 11 6 1 4 1 7 7 6 4 2 0 11 4 7 21
6 Portimonense 13 6 2 5 13 12 7 2 1 4 4 8 6 4 1 1 9 4 1 20
7 Vitoria Guimaraes 12 4 4 4 14 12 6 3 1 2 9 6 6 1 3 2 5 6 2 16
8 Gil Vicente 12 3 5 4 15 15 6 1 2 3 7 8 6 2 3 1 8 7 0 14
9 Arouca 12 3 4 5 13 18 6 3 1 2 9 8 6 0 3 3 4 10 -5 13
10 Tondela 12 4 0 8 17 23 6 3 0 3 12 12 6 1 0 5 5 11 -6 12
11 Boavista 12 2 5 5 15 22 6 2 3 1 9 7 6 0 2 4 6 15 -7 11
12 Pacos de Ferreira 12 2 5 5 9 16 6 1 3 2 5 7 6 1 2 3 4 9 -7 11
13 Famalicao 12 2 4 6 16 20 6 0 3 3 4 9 6 2 1 3 12 11 -4 10
14 Maritimo 12 2 4 6 12 17 6 1 3 2 6 7 6 1 1 4 6 10 -5 10
15 Vizela 12 1 7 4 10 20 6 1 4 1 6 6 6 0 3 3 4 14 -10 10
16 Moreirense 12 1 6 5 14 22 6 1 3 2 10 11 6 0 3 3 4 11 -8 9
17 Belenenses 12 1 5 6 7 22 6 1 2 3 5 14 6 0 3 3 2 8 -15 8
18 Santa Clara 12 1 4 7 9 25 6 1 2 3 4 13 6 0 2 4 5 12 -16 7

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 Ajax 5 5 0 0 16 3 2 2 0 0 6 0 3 3 0 0 10 3 13 15
2 Sporting CP 5 3 0 2 12 8 3 2 0 1 8 6 2 1 0 1 4 2 4 9
3 Borussia Dortmund 5 2 0 3 5 11 2 1 0 1 2 3 3 1 0 2 3 8 -6 6
4 Besiktas 5 0 0 5 3 14 3 0 0 3 3 8 2 0 0 2 0 6 -11 0

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.