The line-up of Ajax for the Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund is known. Noussair Mazraoui returns to the starting line-up, at the expense of Devyne Rensch, who replaced him last Saturday. At Borussia Dortmund, Donyell Malen has to settle for a place on the bench. The match kicks off Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. at Signal Iduna Park.
Mazraoui had to miss the Eredivisie match against Heracles Almelo (0-0) last Saturday. The right-back was then left ill in Amsterdam, but has since recovered and is fit enough to start against Dortmund. Remko Pasveer gets the confidence under the bar. In addition to Mazraoui, Ajax’s defense against Dortmund is formed by Jurriën Timber and Lisandro Martínez, while Daley Blind is again preferred to Argentinian international Nicolás Tagliafico in the left-back position. The latter, like Perr Schuurs and Devyne Rensch, will have to hope for a substitute in the Champions League match.
The midfield of the team from Amsterdam consists of the now well-known names: Edson Álvarez, Steven Berghuis and Ryan Gravenberch. Ten Hag opts for Antony, Sébastien Haller and Dusan Tadic in the vanguard. With Davy Klaassen, Mohammed Kudus, Mohammed Daramy and David Neres, among others, the trainer has more than enough options available. At the closing press conference, Ten Hag indicated that he still sees Borussia Dortmund as the big favorite to win the group, despite his team’s 4-0 victory over the Germans two weeks ago. “That doesn’t change after one game, I don’t think it’s that opportunistic. Three games have been played, but there are also three more games to come.”
Dortmund will have to do without Erling Braut Haaland, who will be out for the rest of the calendar year. Marco Rose could have chosen Malen as a replacement, but prefers Thorgan Hazard, Marco Reus and Steffen Tigges as the deepest attackers. In the first leg in Amsterdam (4-0 for Ajax), Malen started in the base as a left striker and the former PSV player was substituted after 52 minutes.
Line-up Borussia Dortmund: Kobel; Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Wolf; witsel; Brandt, Bellingham; Giant; Hazard, Tigges
Ajax setup: feather; Mazraoui, Timber, Martinez, Blind; Álvarez, Berghuis, Gravenberch; Antony, Haller, Tadic