Ajax vs Bodo/Glimt

Johan Cruyff ArenA is the venue as Ajax and Bodo/Glimt go head-to-head in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout playoff tie.

Ajax’s first-ever appearance in the Europa Conference League perhaps best illustrates their noticeable fall from grace as they had to settle for a dismal third-place finish in their Europa League group behind Brighton and AEK Athens. However, after losing significant ground on Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven and suffering a shocking KNVB Beker exit to lower-league opposition, conquering Europe’s third-tier competition is their only chance of salvaging some pride from an otherwise humiliating campaign. But the Lancers come into proceedings on the back of their first league loss under new manager John van ‘t Schip (W9, D2), going down 3-2 at Heerenveen over the weekend. The impending home return should settle their nerves, though a disappointing run of two wins from their last nine European outings in Amsterdam (D2, L5) doesn’t inspire much confidence.

In the meantime, Bodo/Glimt return to competitive action for the first time since December when they lost 3-1 at Club Brugge on Gameweek 6 en route to securing a runner-up finish in Europa Conference League Group D. The reigning Norwegian champions will have to shake off that rustiness to pull off an upset in the Netherlands, but back-to-back away defeats in which they’ve conceded 3+ goals could kill off the mood. But going unbeaten on their last two European visits to the Netherlands (D2) looks like a good omen as they bid to avenge a disheartening elimination to Lech Poznan at this stage of last season’s competition. Further confidence comes from a free-scoring away form, with Bodo/Glimt netting 2+ goals on five of their most recent six competitive travels.