Ajax vs Juventus 11/04/19

11 April 2019

Ajax and Juventus go toe-to-toe at the Johan Cruijff Arena for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-finals tie as the Eredivisie giants hope to secure their first home win over the Serie A heavyweights after suffering defeats in all three of their previous H2Hs in Amsterdam.

The hosts have racked up a four-game home winning run in the build-up to this meeting, scoring 14 goals while conceding just two across those games. Although they’ve been impressive at this venue for the majority of the season, the Lancers have endured mixed fortunes when it comes to their CL outings (W2, D1, L1), with their only failure arriving against Real Madrid in the previous knockout round. Interestingly, 13 of 18 Ajax’s home victories across all competitions have seen them beating their rivals to nil while conceding precisely one goal in the remaining five. Erik ten Hag’s men have failed to wrap up all three points in all three home clashes in which they’ve conceded over 1.5 goals (D2, L1).

Meanwhile, the visitors come into this meeting after performing a stunning second-half comeback against AC Milan in Serie to pull off a 2-1 win over arch-rivals. A potential problem for Massimiliano Allegri could be Juventus’ indifferent road form in the previous seven away fixtures across all competitions (W4, L3), with the Bianconeri failing to find the net in all three of their defeats during that period. Additionally, the defending SA champions have lost two of four CL road clashes (W2, L2), conceding precisely two goals on both occasions. Just like Ajax, Juventus tend to outplay their opponents without conceding a goal, as 11 of their 16 away triumphs saw them beating their rivals to nil.