20 JAN 2026; Villareal - Ajax Champions League

[Orange14]

A trip to Spain to take on the Yellow Submarine. Let's hope Ajax can salvage something from this Champions League campaign.

[Ayman]

Altough I am glad Youri Baas is back, he has some positive influence, even though he is only good at build up play and can't defend. i doubt Ajax can get a victory here. Villarreal may not be taking Europe by storm, but Ajax keep playing Klaassen and that will cost them three points.

[SPL]

Wijndal ,Baas,Mokio and Gloukh start so Rosa,Itakura,Steur and Bounida subs . Dont expect much but a draw would be ok..

Moro is on the bench but appears to be off to Osasuna and sold not loan and V d Boomen is being loaned to Angers in France

[Tom_]

This is appalling. Stadium empty, terrible football. UEFA have done a real number on this comp.

I’m going to give up, will check in later.

[Orange14]

A couple of good saves from Jaros. Wonder if the rain and wet pitch are affecting things.

[SPL]

After a dreadful 1st half a good win and we played well in the 2nd half with 2 nice goals. Would add apart from the goal Gloukh didn't impress me much.Bouwman with a bad mistake for their goal.Dont see us getting through but the win is good for Dutch coefficients .

I thought Jaros had a good game but missed that corner near the end ,probably his only error. Nice for Edvardsen to be the hero.

Mokio Dolberg Wijndal all very poor. Mokio really is not a big talent like Steur. We really need a good no 6 and replace Wijndal.Didn't think Gaaei was that bad , decent going down the wing.

[Orange14]

A couple of things before talking about the performance. It appears that Spanish supporters are fair weather fans and won''t come out if it's raining. Pathetic how many empty seats there were. Secondly, it did not look like Villareal had their heart in this game. Either that or the Spain #3 team is not very good. So Ajax pick up three points with the Edvardssen goal. Defensively they were still fragile but Jaros made some key saves. There are still too many unforced errors but the passing and movement were much better in this match. Oscar's free kick reminded me of the Schone goal against Real Madrid in the 2019 run to the semifinals. Incredibly, Ajax are still in contention for the KO round though things will have to break their way. Olympiacos is on 8 points and Ajax can pull ahead of them with a win next week!! Go figure.

Player Ratings:

Jaros (7) - best match in an Ajax shirt with some key saves and was good with the ball at his feet
Gaaei (6.5) - didn't have to defend much and had the cutback to Edvarssen for the match winner
Bouwman (5) - the rating might be charitable as he had two really bad mental mistakes, one that conceded the goal, he's only 18 and his passing is o much better than Sutalo
Baas (7) - solid performance and it shows how much he is missed when he is out
Wijndal (6) - decent enough and tried to overlap when he could, drew the foul that set up Oscar
Regeer (6.5) - thought he was good on the evening before coming out because of a knock
Mokio (6.5) - solid game as the defensive MF when Regeer would slide over to the right in a 3 man back line
Klaassen (6) - you all know that I am NOT a Klassen fanboy and don't think he should play but he was OK in this match though huffing and puffing in the end
Oscar (6.5) - rating is mostly because of the free kick but he was more under control and moved to the false #9 when Dolberg came off
Dolberg (6) - worked hard at both ends but only had one half chance
Godts (6) - I just don't now about him; apparently he is working with Huntellaar but what he really needs to do is watch some tapes of David Neres on how not to lose the ball
Itakura (6) - OK coming in for Regeer at #6 and then dropped back when Wijndal was subbed off
Steur (NR) - on for the final 20 minutes and was composed on the ball not losing possession and passing to the right man
Bounida(NR) - same as Steur, had one bad give away but helped set up the match winner
Edvardssen (NR) - nailed the matchwinner

[Ayman]

I have to disagree about Mokio, he was very erratic throughout the game even when he moved to the number 6 position. He would struggle to get games at Club Brugge let alone a top team in the Bundesliga.

A couple of things before talking about the performance. It appears that Spanish supporters are fair weather fans and won''t come out if it's raining. Pathetic how many empty seats there were. Secondly, it did not look like Villareal had their heart in this game. Either that or the Spain #3 team is not very good. So Ajax pick up three points with the Edvardssen goal. Defensively they were still fragile but Jaros made some key saves. There are still too many unforced errors but the passing and movement were much better in this match. Oscar's free kick reminded me of the Schone goal against Real Madrid in the 2019 run to the semifinals. Incredibly, Ajax are still in contention for the KO round though things will have to break their way. Olympiacos is on 8 points and Ajax can pull ahead of them with a win next week!! Go figure.

Player Ratings:

Jaros (7) - best match in an Ajax shirt with some key saves and was good with the ball at his feet
Gaaei (6.5) - didn't have to defend much and had the cutback to Edvarssen for the match winner
Bouwman (5) - the rating might be charitable as he had two really bad mental mistakes, one that conceded the goal, he's only 18 and his passing is o much better than Sutalo
Baas (7) - solid performance and it shows how much he is missed when he is out
Wijndal (6) - decent enough and tried to overlap when he could, drew the foul that set up Oscar
Regeer (6.5) - thought he was good on the evening before coming out because of a knock
Mokio (6.5) - solid game as the defensive MF when Regeer would slide over to the right in a 3 man back line
Klaassen (6) - you all know that I am NOT a Klassen fanboy and don't think he should play but he was OK in this match though huffing and puffing in the end
Oscar (6.5) - rating is mostly because of the free kick but he was more under control and moved to the false #9 when Dolberg came off
Dolberg (6) - worked hard at both ends but only had one half chance
Godts (6) - I just don't now about him; apparently he is working with Huntellaar but what he really needs to do is watch some tapes of David Neres on how not to lose the ball
Itakura (6) - OK coming in for Regeer at #6 and then dropped back when Wijndal was subbed off
Steur (NR) - on for the final 20 minutes and was composed on the ball not losing possession and passing to the right man
Bounida(NR) - same as Steur, had one bad give away but helped set up the match winner
Edvardssen (NR) - nailed the matchwinner

[SPL]

Reading Dutch sites Bouwman Wijndal and Mokio rated the 3 worst performances . Bouwman gave away the goal and got caught another time ,he is young but Sutalo has made mistakes. Wijndal cannot defend and his attacking play does not compare with Gaaei , and he is not good enough as he cannot defend.
Mokio was too erratic for me and is no where near good enough for a basic place. If he decides to leave us for big money he will just disappear like Vos now in Milan 2nd and Misehouy ,on loan in Greece.

2nd half was enjoyable and it was a good win .

[Orange14]

I was wrong about my rating for Mokio. I still think he can be a good player but he does not have as much upside as Steur right now and it's not clear whether he is a true #6.

[Ayman]

Reading Dutch sites Bouwman Wijndal and Mokio rated the 3 worst performances . Bouwman gave away the goal and got caught another time ,he is young but Sutalo has made mistakes. Wijndal cannot defend and his attacking play does not compare with Gaaei , and he is not good enough as he cannot defend.
Mokio was too erratic for me and is no where near good enough for a basic place. If he decides to leave us for big money he will just disappear like Vos now in Milan 2nd and Misehouy ,on loan in Greece.

2nd half was enjoyable and it was a good win .

Itakaru should partner Youri Baas in defense, i can't believe what an influential player Baas is turning out to be, I am pretty sure he will leave at the end of the season, lots of suitors from Italy, Spain and Germany. As for Mokio, i laughed when people were anxious that he may not renew his contract, that should be a relief more than anything, Mokio is just a lesser version of Musampa, both versatile, jack of all trades masters of nothing. Zinchenko should be a starter instead of Wijndal going forward.

[Orange14]

, i can't believe what an influential player Baas is turning out to be, I am pretty sure he will leave at the end of the season, lots of suitors from Italy, Spain and Germany. As for Mokio, i laughed when people were anxious that he may not renew his contract, that should be a relief more than anything, Mokio is just a lesser version of Musampa, both versatile, jack of all trades masters of nothing. Zinchenko should be a starter instead of Wijndal going forward.

Just a reminder that Dies Janse returns to Ajax in June from his loan at Groningen. Groningen have allowed the fewest goals in the Eredivise this season and Blokzijl and Janse might be the best CD pairing in the league. Both are great on the ball and good in the air.

[Tom_]

Janse is also solidly built. I’ve been wondering if a beefier defender would help with problems we’ve had with crosses this season. Bouwman and Baas are both quite light for CDs.