Many of the teams in the round of 16 of the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League will believe they have what it takes to go on and win the competition. Two of those teams will meet in Amsterdam on Thursday night for the second leg of their tie as Ajax host Getafe.
This was always going to be an interesting match-up between a team which reached the semi-final of the Champions League last season and the team which is performing very well in La Liga this season. However, Ajax come into their home leg of the tie with work to do having lost 2-0 in Spain last week.
Eyes 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙. Mind 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙.Game on, world. ✘✘✘#UEL #ajaget pic.twitter.com/NKGdBvtjZM— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) February 24, 2020
Eyes 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙. Mind 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙.Game on, world. ✘✘✘#UEL #ajaget pic.twitter.com/NKGdBvtjZM
Things did not get any better for The Dutch champions on the weekend as the lost 1-0 at Heracles in the Eredivisie. Ajax remain 3 points clear of AZ who are in 2nd place but it means they have lost each of their last 2 matches in all competitions.
Despite the recent defeats, the home fans can remain confident as Ajax have been performing well at home. They have won each of their last 5 games, all of which have come in domestic competitions. In each of their last 3 matches at home, Ajax have scored 11 goals and conceded 0. However, they did not perform well at home in the Champions League and lost 2 of their three group games. Ajax have also lost their most recent home Europa League match which was against Rosenborg in 2018.
Getafe failed to build on their recent good home form as they suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sevilla on the weekend in La Liga. There were 11 bookings in the game and that result has allowed Sevilla to move above Getafe in La Liga into 4th place. Getafe have been pushed out of the Champions League qualifying places.
That was their second defeat in 5 games having also lost in La Liga against Barcelona. Getafe will be hoping their season does not take a turn for the worse by losing this game against Ajax and being eliminated from the Europa League. However, Getafe have won each of the last 3 Europa League games including victories over Trabzonspor away and Krasnodar at home.
The away Europa League form shows one defeat in their last 4 games and both teams have scored in 3 of those 4 matches.
Team news and Ajax are still without Joel Veltman and Quincy Promes who are injured. Zakaria Labyad, David Neres and Noussair Mazraoui are all doubts.
Getafe travel to Holland with just one doubt and that's goalkeeper Filip Manojlovic who is hoping to recover from a back injury.
Getafe have shown they're capable of winning matches away from home in the Europa League this season, having done so twice in the group stage. They have scored in each of their last 4 away Europa League matches and could come away with a narrow 1-0 win which will see them progress comfortably to the round of 16.