We have reached the round of 16 stage in the Champions League and having been drawn against Benfica, Ajax will believe they have a great opportunity to reach the quarter-final this season.
The first leg of this tie will be played at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon and the hosts qualified for this round by finishing second in Group E, 10 points adrift of Bayern Munich and the visitors finished top of Group C, 9 points clear of Sporting CP.
Benfica come into the game having been held to a 2-2 draw at Boavista in the Portuguese Primeira on the weekend.
Benfica were 2-0 up at half-time and well on their way to taking maximum points but Boavista scored 2 goals in the final 16 minutes of the match to take a point. It was a disappointing result for Benfica and leaves them 12 points adrift of leaders Porto.
However, the draw means Benfica are undefeated in their last 3 games, all of which have come in the Primeira Division. There have been wins over Tondela away and Santa Clara at home.
Form in the Champions League is not great and Benfica have won only 1 of their 4 most recent matches.
The win came at home against Dynamo Kyiv but there were back-to-back defeats against Bayern Munich and a good 0-0 draw in Barcelona. Trends show Benfica have won 6 of their last 7 home Champions League games.
Ajax make the trip to Lisbon on the back of a narrow 1-0 win at Willem II in the Dutch Eredivisie on the weekend. The only goal of the game was scored in the 81st minute and that result means Ajax sit 5 points clear of PSV at the top of the Eredivisie.
The win over Willem II was the 10th straight victory for Ajax in all competitions. They have won each of their last 8 away games, including a 3-1 victory at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Form in the Champions League is excellent and Ajax won all 6 of their group games, beating Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund, and Besiktas both home and away.
Away results in the Champions League show Ajax have won 4 of their last 5 matches and they have lost only 1 of their 21 most recent away trips in the competition, which is a fantastic record.
Team news and Benfica are without the injured trio of Haris Seferovic, Lucas Verissimo, and Rodrigo Pinho.
Ajax have Brian Brobbey, Maarten Stekelenburg, and Sean Klaiber on the treatment table. Remko Pasveer is expected to play in goal.
Ajax are tough to beat when playing away in the Champions League and that pattern is set to continue in this match. However, Benfica have a good recent home record in the competition and that means we could see this one end level, with both teams scoring.
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