Ajax need to claim at least a point against Real Madrid to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League but that is something that no side has done in their last 14 matches.
Real Madrid have won their last 14 matches in all competitions and Jose Mourinho's side have now opened up a three point lead at the top of La Liga, with a game in hand on bitter rivals Barcelona. They take on Pep Guardiola's men in the Bernabeu on Saturday and that match is likely to heavily influence the team selection for Wednesday's clash with Ajax in the Amsterdam Arena.
Los Merengues don't need to take anything from the match but, despite this, they are the 13/8 favourites at
BetVictor, to beat the Dutch champions. That price is due to the fact that when Mourinho rested the likes of Ronaldo, Di Maria, Casillas, Pepe and Marcelo a fortnight ago they ran out 6-2 winners over Dinamo Zagreb. Karim Benzema opened the scoring in that win and the French striker is 6/1 at
Coral to score first on Wednesday.
However, there is no way that Ajax can be compared to Dinamo Zagreb. The Dutch side won 4-0 against the Croatians when they hosted them in Amsterdam and also 2-0 in Zagreb. They go into Wednesday's match with Real Madrid confident and motivated, knowing that they only need to draw to come through Group D behind the Spaniards.
It is 5/2 at
totesport that they claim the point they need, or 2/1 at
bet365 that they beat Real, and it is perhaps worth backing Frank De Boer's side in some way. The draw seems the more likely option as the visitors will all be playing for a place in the starting team against Barcelona and Ajax will also look to shut everything down in the seocnd half unless they are trailing.
What is perhaps an even better option is to stay out of the win-draw-win market and instead simply back under 2.5 goals at evens with
bet365. It is a strange choice in a Real Madrid match but both of Los Galacticos' two away matches in the Champions League this season have gone under that line, as have three of Ajax's five.
