UCL: Real Madrid V Ajax – Wednesday, 15th September

Real Madrid V Ajax

Wednesday, 15th September – 19:45 GMT
LIVE on Sky Sports 4

UEFA Champions League: Group G

Real Madrid

The UEFA Champions League crown has eluded Spanish supremo’s Real Madrid for the past right years, with their last of nine European honours coming back in 2001/2002. The Galacticos have also exited the competition at the Round of 16 stage for the last six years running, so it was clear a change was needed in order for the club to move forward again. Their solution to the problem was one of two things; firstly to throw money at the situation by signing the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema, while in the summer they moved to secure the services of a proven Champions League winner in former FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho, who himself is seeking his third Champions League winners medal with three different clubs.

So will this Mourinho & Madrid romance produce the sparks intended, with the sole purpose of the relationship being to restore the club’s winning tradition. Despite many big names signing on the dotted line during the summer of 2009, Real Madrid still failed in their quest to bring home any silverware during the 2009/2010 campaign, where the Madrid chief’s yielded the axe on manager Manuel Pellegrini. His successor was of course that of two-time Champions League winners Jose Mourinho, or the ‘Special One’ as he likes to call himself, and like Pellegrini, Mourinho has gone to town in the summer transfer window and brought in his own fresh bunch of Galacticos, meaning the pressure is now well and truly on Mourinho to deliver the goods as there is absolutely no excuse for failure.

If you were to ask the Real Madrid fans which would they prefer; the La Liga title back or another European success, it would definitely be the former. The rival between Barcelona now has become so intense, so one-sided in fact, that the Bernabeu faithful is desperate to get their hands back on the Primera title. I doubt you would get the same answer from Jose Mourinho, who’s ego wouldn’t allow him to choose anything other than a third Champions League success, a feat which would set him apart from any manager on the planet. It goes without saying that the club as a whole will strive to achieve success in both competitions, and despite the attractiveness of their group, Madrid are still heavily fancied to progress into the last-sixteen and will most definitely fancy their chances of ending Ajax’s streak of four successive wins over the Bernabeu outfit on Wednesday night in front of a packed out Bernabeu crowd baying for Amsterdam blood.

The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ received a welcome boost at the weekend, and it wasn’t an improved display by any stretch of the imagination. As Mourinho’s Galacticos were out earning a 1-0 win at home to Osasuna, with centre-half Ricardo Carvalho scoring the winner, Cristiano Ronaldo was also making his return from injury and is now set to start for the second game running at home to Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Ronaldo, a world-record signing during the summer of 2009 from Manchester United, finished second in the scoring charts for the Champions League last season despite his team-mates failing to make it past the first round of knock-out’s. The former Manchester United ace is an appealing 11/1 with Coral to claim the competitions’ Golden Boot this season, which isn’t a bad shout considering the team should delve deeper into the tournament than in previous years under the influence and guidance of the European genius they call Jose Mourinho.

Ajax

Holland’s most successful club in Europe, Ajax, will be making their Champions League reappearance on Wednesday night when they travel to Madrid to face one of the tournament’s hot favourites in Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Five years the club and fans alike have waited for Champions League football to return to Amsterdam, where everyone involved with the club steeped in history and tradition will hold out aspirations of lifting the trophy for a milestone fifth occasion.

This will also be Martin Jol’s first stint in the Champions League, which doesn’t exactly bode well for Ajax’s chances on Wednesday when you consider that Jol’s opposite number, Jose Mourinho, has an abundance of Champions League nous and knowledge as well as a couple of winners medals. That shouldn’t phase the hard-nosed former Tottenham manager though, who came within a handshake of completing a move back to the English Premier League in the summer only for the club to slam the door shut right in his face. While Jol didn’t get his own way as such, the one positive that did come from all that drama with the Fulham vacancy was his haggling, with all of the star names which helped Ajax back into Europe still at the club despite rife rumours over many of their futures.

It is fair to say that Ajax are no longer a European powerhouse, barely a leading playing in their own backyard if truth be told, but the fact Martin Jol does have all of his assets at his beckon call means Ajax are at least capable of producing a promising run in the competition this season, with the likes of Gregory Van Der Wiel, Maarten Stekelenburg and Luis Suarez arguably too good for the club but players with the potential to serve Ajax well in Europe. The latter in particular, whom scored three for his country during the summer’s World Cup in South Africa as well as returning with outrageous goalscoring figures of 49 goals in 48 games last season, is a match winner for Ajax and should they provide the Uruguay forward with enough opportunities, could see the team secure enough points to have a real impact in proceedings.

Getting a result away in Madrid, Spain is going to be a tough ask for Jol’s team, even though Ajax have won the last four encounters in Europe with Real Madrid. However, these two clubs have gone in completely different directions within the space of a decade, with the La Liga outfit still a prominent player in every competition they compete in while Ajax, unfortunately, have found themselves priced out of Europe’s major honours, with their financial insecurities leading to some bizarre and drastic displays even back home in their native Holland. They are, though, back in the big time and the players in particular won’t want to let this window of opportunity past them behind, with this likely to be the last season with Ajax for many, including Martin Jol.

Match Prediction: Real Madrid to WIN – 1.33 BlueSquare

A fixture of this magnitude twenty years ago would have sparked global attention, while Ajax arguably would have been the favourites. But, however, in the modern day Ajax find themselves up against it in just about every European encounter and didn’t even look impressive during the qualifiers, virtually drawing their way to the competition proper. With the amount of talent on show at the Bernabeu nowadays, as well as the sheer value of the Real Madrid squad, it’s hard to foresee anything other than a home win for Mourinho’s Galacticos.

Match Odds:

Real Madrid – 1.33 BlueSquare
Draw – 5.80 Bet365
Ajax – 11.00 Boylesports