More than half a century after they met Inter Milan in the final of the 1972 European Cup, Ajax will face a tough start to their 2025/26 UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign against the runners-up of last season’s competition.
Match News and Current Form
Ajax have begun their Eredivisie campaign undefeated (W3, D2), but the four-time European Cup/UCL champions still have a lot to prove, having advanced beyond the group/league phase just once from four attempts since their run to the 2018/19 semi-finals. The Lancers won on matchday one in four of their last five UCL campaigns (L1) and extending that would be a good start for head coach John Heitinga, who will become the fifth different person to both play for and manage Ajax in the top European competition.
Heitinga’s one-time Ajax teammate Cristian Chivu is under pressure at Inter after they suffered consecutive defeats, including a 4-3 loss to Juventus in Derby d'Italia on Saturday, during which they were leading until the final ten minutes. Chivu has big shoes to fill in Europe as the Nerazzurri were led to two UCL finals in the last three seasons by his predecessor Simone Inzaghi. The visitors’ defence could be stretched again here after their troubles against Juventus, as Inter have conceded a whopping 13 goals in their last four UCL games.
Head-to-Head History
Ajax are winless in their last four H2Hs (D1, L3) and have failed to win their last 13 home UEFA games against Italian clubs (D6, L7). Inter are unbeaten across their last 13 UEFA games against Dutch clubs (W9, D4).
Hot Stats and Streaks
In four of Ajax’s five competitive games this season, the opening goal was scored within the first 20 minutes.
Eight of Ajax’s last 12 UCL games saw over 3.5 goals scored.
Inter kept a clean sheet in eight of their last nine UCL group/league phase games.
Seven of the last nine UCL goals scored or conceded by Inter were recorded on or beyond the 60th minute.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Kenneth Taylor has quietly recorded just one assist in his five competitive games for Ajax this season, but could make a late impact with four of his six goals in Europe last season coming after the break. Lautaro Martínez also started this season relatively humbly with just a goal and an assist in three club games and could look for early impact as five of his last eight UCL strikes for Inter came in the first half.
Branco van den Boomen remains Ajax’s only major injury absence, while Inter have no new concerns.
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Betting Analysis
Looking at the porous defences on view here, backing both teams to score and over 2.5 total goals could be a winning pick.
Author: Sridhar Bhamidi