23 OCT 2018; Ajax - Benfica; CL Match Day 3

[Orange14]

Ajax host Benfica who they have not played in Euro competition since the days when Cruyff was the main man (1971-72 CL season). The Portuguese league had no matches scheduled this week giving players extra time off following the international break. Whether this is good or bad will not be revealed until the match on Tuesday. They gave up a two goal lead against AEK in their last CL match snatching a win with a late goal despite playing with ten men as defender Ruben Dias was sent off just before half time. The club is unbeaten in the league thus far.

I have not seen any updates on the injuries to Tagliafico and Mazraoui.

[Tom_]

I think the commentator said during the Heerenveen game that both were available. Don’t know where that info came from.

[SPL]

Dutch news reports today that the 2 should be fit.

[SPL]

Because Benfica's change strip has red in it we have to play tonight in our revolting black and gold away strip.Utter disgrace we should never have to play at home in anything other than our iconic magically shirt.

PS I really hate away shirts especially when our shirt really is beautiful and unique no other big club wears one like it. Ajax should never be made to play a game of football in any other shirt.

[Cruijff]

Because Benfica's change strip has red in it we have to play tonight in our revolting black and gold away strip.Utter disgrace we should never have to play at home in anything other than our iconic magically shirt.

Really a disgrace indeed that we have to play in our away shirt during a home game!!

[Orange14]

Because Benfica's change strip has red in it we have to play tonight in our revolting black and gold away strip.Utter disgrace we should never have to play at home in anything other than our iconic magically shirt.

I cannot find any link on the Internet that shows this. https://www.footyheadlines.com/2018/06/ ... y-kit.html shows the away kit; a white shirt and dark shorts. How does this conflict with the Ajax home kit?

[Cruijff]

The line- up for tonight:
https://www.ajaxshowtime.com/article/ho ... en-benfica

About to enter the stadium right now!

[Ayman]

The line- up for tonight:
https://www.ajaxshowtime.com/article/ho ... en-benfica

About to enter the stadium right now!

Glad van de Beek is starting. Nobody in the line up deserves to be dropped, that said, Wober would be good playing in defense in this type of game.

[Tom_]

Nervy first half. Could've been goals at both ends. Have to watch out for that press, a couple of times Benfica moved the ball forward quickly and ended up outnumbering our defense.

[Orange14]

Pretty even match at the halftime whistle. Both teams had chances to score but the keepers were up to the task. I think Schöne has been poor and his lack of quickness really shows. Some weird calls by the French referee and I guess Onana got carded for dissent with the goal line official. Looks like goal line technology got the call right on the Ajax shot. It missed by maybe 5cm.

[SPL]

Even half but we must be careful as they look lively up front.

[kezme44]

i'm in munich today and drinking a nice weissbier while i'm watching this. scrappy game. mazraoui needs to be careful. he's given away several balls in dangerous situations already.

[Orange14]

Ridiculous call on Tagliafico. No foul at all and no card required.

[Ayman]

Ridiculous call on Tagliafico. No foul at all and no card required.

Does that mean he misses the next game?

[Tom_]

Ziyech has been poor today. Trying to take on too many players and too many turnovers. I think they're targeting him because they know he dribbles into trouble and they can get a quick counter when he coughs it up.

[Tom_]

Yes!!!! lucky, but I'll take it

[Orange14]

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAZRAOUI

[Ayman]

Finally, better late than never!

[Orange14]

Player ratings later tonight. I have to go to pick up my wife at the airport. Good victory. Agree with Tom that Ziyech was quite poor. de Ligt, de Jong, Blind, van de Beek were the top players on the pitch.

[SPL]

my stream died on 75 mins and so did cricfree and would not work ,very frustrating as I missed the goal.Great win just wish I could have seen the goal live.

[Ayman]

We kind of dodged a bullet in this game. It's worth mentioning that for the first time since 1996, Ajax have avoided defeat in their first three games of the Champions league!

[zeux]

We kind of dodged a bullet in this game. It's worth mentioning that for the first time since 1996, Ajax have avoided defeat in their first three games of the Champions league!

Winning the scrappy games is so important...

[Ayman]

We kind of dodged a bullet in this game. It's worth mentioning that for the first time since 1996, Ajax have avoided defeat in their first three games of the Champions league!

Winning the scrappy games is so important...

True.. on top of that, I don't want Ajax to peak too early. As long as Ajax get results in their next three games, they will top the group! Imagine that! Imagine being drawn against the likes of Man united/Valencia, Lyon, Roma, Schalke/Porto!

[Orange14]

What a wonderful football match. Two teams that are pretty well matched; great saves by both keepers, too many unforced errors by both teams, and a final shot by the fullback who scored against Bayern gets the match winner with the aid of a deflection. Ajax and Bayern are now even at the top of the table. The only quibble I have with ten Hag is that he left Neres on the bench too long. I would have subbed off Ziyech who always thinks he can beat every double and triple team he meets (wake up, you cannot) and he should take a page from Neres who never gets into such trouble passing the ball before the double team can materialize. Ajax need to sharpen up their passing for the return match or they could be in trouble. Hard to pick a MOTM as van de Beek, Onana, de Jong and de Ligt all had good matches.

Player Ratings:

Onana (8) - kept Benfica off the scoreboard with some very fine saves
Tagliafico (6.5) - was not a major factor going forward but provided a good outlet for passes from the back
Blind (7) - yes, he is slow but he also has great field vision when he has the ball
de Ligt (7.5) - one mistake is all I counted in an otherwise wonderful defensive match
Mazraoui (7) - got the game winner but his defending was not good
Schöne (6) - lack of quickness was on full display in this match; probably weakest player on the pitch
de Jong (7.5) - solid on the ball, picking the right pass
van de Beek (7.5) - couldn't believe that his shot was saved and really worked hard all game long
Tadic (7) - decent enough game but it looks like he's getting a little tired
Dolberg (7) - had a good shot on goal with his weaker foot
Ziyech (6.5) - he would really help the team much more if he would get trapped by 2-3 defenders with no way out
Neres (6) - reacted very well on the flubbed clearance by the Benfica defender to keep the play going for the game winner

Feyenoord up on the weekend followed by a cup match next week against Go Ahead Eagles

[Amol]

Was stuck at an airport during the 1st half and on the flight in the 2nd. Needless to say, wasn't able to watch the game at all.

I was hitting refresh on all my twitter feeds and onefootball match commentary and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the '1' pop up next to Ajax. I had a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the flight and on my way to the hotel.

Incredible!!! Who among us would've believed that we're still tied for 1st in this group after matchday 3? Like Zeux said earlier, its very important to win these scrappy games no matter what.

I have a really good feeling about this group and really hope that we keep the majority of this team for 2 more years. If Overmars, Van Der Sar and Ten Haag can collectively keep this group happy, I see a very bright future for us. Oh well, I said the same right before the Europa Cup final and then we had our heartbreak incident last summer.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling. HUP AJAX!!!!