There are 16 Europa League matches to look forward to on Thursday night, one of which takes place at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez as Getafe host Ajax.
Getafe are hoping to make history by progressing further in European football than they ever have before whereas Ajax know exactly what it takes to reach the latter stages of European competition.
Getafe come into the match having lost 2-1 at Barcelona in La Liga on the weekend. They went into the match as the outsiders and despite falling 2-0 down in the first half they managed to get a goal back in the second half but it wasn’t enough. That was their first defeat in their last 5 games having enjoyed a 4 game winning run in La Liga.
Getafe picked up wins over Real Betis and Valencia at home plus Leganes and Athletic Club away. They remain on course to finish in the top four this season and qualify for the Champions League.
In the Europa League, Getafe came second in a group which contained Basel, Krasnodar and Trabzonspor. They won 4 of their 6 matches including home victories against Trabzonspor and Krasnodar. Getafe have lost only one of their last 8 home games in all competitions and have lost only 2 of their last 11 home Europa League matches.
Getafe have conceded just one goal in their last 4 Europa League games at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.
Ajax recorded a comfortable 3-0 home win against RKC Waalwijk in the Dutch Eredivisie on the weekend. The victory sees them sit 6 points clear of AZ who are in 2nd place and 10 points clear of 3rd place Feyenoord. Therefore, it appears as though Ajax on their way to securing another Dutch title.
However, winning a European trophy is going to prove more difficult and Ajax enter the Round of 32 stage in the Europa League having been eliminated in the group stages of the Champions League. Ajax reached the semi-final of that tournament last season and will be disappointed to find themselves in this position.
Ajax won 3 of their 6 Champions League group games but tasted defeat at home against Valencia and Chelsea. Their away record in the Europa League is poor and Ajax have failed to win any of their last 7 away Europa League matches, losing each of the last 4. They conceded 2 or more goals in each of those defeats but did manage to score in all of those games.
Team news and Getafe have just one doubt for this game with goalkeeper Filip Manojlovic trying to recover from a back injury.
Ajax will be without a goalkeeper of their own as Andre Onana is suspended. Joel Veltman and Quincy Promes are both injured while Zakaria Labyad, David Neres and Perr Schuurs are doubts.
Getafe will be hoping to build a lead to take with them to Amsterdam for the second leg. They should be able to score at least 2 goals against this Ajax team and win the match but expect the Dutch champions to score a goal themselves.