After the resumption of the Eredivisie, Ajax can look forward to a beautiful poster in the Champions League. After victories over Sporting Portugal (1-5) and Besiktas (2-0), Borussia Dortmund may be the toughest opponent in Group C. The last time that happened, in the 2011/12 season, Dortmund took the win. Thanks in part to a gala performance by Mario Götze, who recorded two assists and a goal, it became 1-4 for BVB. Ajax will want to do better in this edition.
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Ajax would immediately set a historic performance with a victory over Dortmund. Since the Champions League introduced the group stage, it has only happened once that the team from Amsterdam started this round with three consecutive wins. That was in the 1995/96 season, when the final was reached under coach Louis van Gaal. That one of the two teams in this game makes it to the final would not be surprising at all, looking at history. It happened twice before that Ajax and Dortmund met in the Champions League and both times one of the two teams finished in the final battle: in 1995/96 Ajax reached the final, while Dortmund was a finalist in 2012/13.
Do you think Ajax can continue the good start? View the odds for Ajax’s victory over Borussia Dortmund here.
For the goals, Ajax will look to Sébastien Haller. Although some pundits openly doubted his abilities at the Champions League level, the Franco-Ivorian striker immediately showed himself very deadly in the billion-dollar ball. With his five goals, Haller is the top scorer for the time being and with a goal against Dortmund he can join a beautiful list. To date, only three Ajax players have managed to score in three consecutive Champions League matches: Patrick Kluivert (1995), Jari Litmanen (1996) and Dusan Tadic (2018). Haller could therefore immediately equal that in his first three duels on the highest podium.
Can Sébastien Haller score again in the Champions League? Check here the odds for a goal from the Ajax striker.
Finally, the elephant in the room must be named: Erling Braut Haaland. As Louis van Gaal had been worried for weeks in the run-up to the game between Norway and the Netherlands, Erik ten Hag will not be reassured either. Haaland proves almost impossible to stop. The Norwegian goalscorer has already scored more goals in the Champions League than he played in matches (17 matches, 21 goals) and also showed himself very sharp in away games. Haaland has scored nine goals in nine matches in the Champions League. This brings the umpteenth record in sight for him: never before has anyone scored ten away goals in the billion-dollar ball in ten duels. Mario Gomez and Kylian Mbappe needed twelve more duels.
Can Erling Haaland pass the Ajax defense several times? Click here for odds for two goals from the Norwegian.
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