Ajax and Benfica meet in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg on Tuesday 15 March.
Competition top scorer Sébastien Haller scored at both ends in a pulsating first leg. It was Haller’s strike partner Dušan Tadić who had broken the deadlock just eight minutes prior to the man of the moment turning into his own net. Haller tucked in to restore the visitors’ lead, but substitute Roman Yaremchuk headed in on the rebound to restore parity.
Predicted line-ups
Ajax: Onana; Rensch, Schuurs, Martínez, Blind; Edson Álvarez, Berghuis, Gravenberch; Antony, Haller, Tadić
Benfica: Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Otamendi, Vertonghen, Grimaldo; Weigl, Taarabt; Everton, Gonçalo Ramos, Rafa Silva, Darwin Núñez
What the coaches say
Erik ten Hag, Ajax coach: “If you look at it in terms of our goals, you can say that our Champions League campaign has already been successful, but as a sportsman you naturally want to get the most out of it. We face a major challenge to deliver. We want to get as far as possible and that starts with beating Benfica.”
Nélson Veríssimo, Benfica coach: “We have to be at a high level to get past the difficult obstacle that is Ajax. But we believe – as I said ahead of the first game, which probably a lot of people didn’t believe – that this tie is 50/50. Ajax will have to respect us, we will respect Ajax, and then it’s a game of cat and mouse, figuring out where the weak points are and how to exploit space.”
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