Ajax @ Barcelona
Game Time: Wednesday, 2:45 PM EST
Barcelona has a dream matchup today for their playing style, as Ajax will allow them to have some great moments of offensive soccer. Both teams have a similar system with an offensive minded soccer with a high percentage of ball possession: Johan Cruyff is the big influence in the soccer of both teams, so it's natural that both Barcelona and Ajax play in the same way.
The problem is that there is a huge difference between the individual talent of these two teams. Just like almost every Dutch team, Ajax has huge defensive problems. They are out of trouble when they can maintain the ball possession, but when they can't, their poor defense gets massively exposed, just like it will happen today. Ajax won't have the same approach that almost everybody has against Barcelona: put 11 men behind the ball. This has been reaffirmed by their coach Frank De Boer:
“Lots of teams have tried to beat them but if we stick to our style, I'll be happy.”
This will be Barcelona's first CL match this season and they saw their main rivals Real Madrid having a huge win at Galatasaray, including a hat trick by Cristiano Ronaldo. This will certainly make Barcelona be fired up for tonight, as these two teams always try to upstage the other at their first opportunity.
But the key matchup in here is to know what Ajax's offense will do tonight and I don't expect them to do a lot. Their best midfielder over the last few seasons Eriksen was sold to Tottenham at the trade deadline, something that is making Ajax struggle while finding a new playmaker with similar class. Siem De Jong is also still far from his best form after an injury layoff. So, Ajax will miss offensive flow tonight and with the Dutch team having a big domestic clash next weekend against PSV Eindhoven on the road, I believe De Boer will manage the effort of Ajax's players in the best way possible, especially if Barcelona takes an early lead like I expect to happen in here.
Last season, a much better Ajax team went to Madrid to face Real in the group stage and even though Real Madrid was already qualified and playing with a lineup of a mixture between starters and backups, they still defeat Ajax by 4-1. I expect something similar in here, so I'll be taking Barcelona today.
This will be Barcelona's first CL match this season and they saw their main rivals Real Madrid having a huge win at Galatasaray, including a hat trick by Cristiano Ronaldo. This will certainly make Barcelona be fired up for tonight, as these two teams always try to upstage the other at their first opportunity.
But the key matchup in here is to know what Ajax's offense will do tonight and I don't expect them to do a lot. Their best midfielder over the last few seasons Eriksen was sold to Tottenham at the trade deadline, something that is making Ajax struggle while finding a new playmaker with similar class. Siem De Jong is also still far from his best form after an injury layoff. So, Ajax will miss offensive flow tonight and with the Dutch team having a big domestic clash next weekend against PSV Eindhoven on the road, I believe De Boer will manage the effort of Ajax's players in the best way possible, especially if Barcelona takes an early lead like I expect to happen in here.
Last season, a much better Ajax team went to Madrid to face Real in the group stage and even though Real Madrid was already qualified and playing with a lineup of a mixture between starters and backups, they still defeat Ajax by 4-1. I expect something similar in here, so I'll be taking Barcelona today.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on Barcelona AH (-2.25) @ -138 / 1.72 on Pinnacle OR -139 / 1.72 on 5Dimes
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