CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Erratic Ajax prepare for Madrid with defeat away to Heracles
'De Godenzonen' were defeated by an early single goal in Almelo and have started the 2019 calendar year in erratic form.
Real Madrid travel to Amsterdam to face Dutch giants Ajax on Wednesday at the Johan Cruyff Arena with the return leg in the Spanish capital scheduled for March 5th.
The game sees both sides heading into the fixture on different trajectories with Madrid travelling to the Netherlands after securing a morale boosting 1-3 win in the Madrid derby at the Wanda Metropolitano cementing their fifth LaLiga win in succession. Santiago Solari seems to have finally found the route-map to success after a shaky initial start on the Bernabeu bench after taking over from Julen Lopetegui who was dismissed at the end of October 2018.
Round of 16 opponents Ajax come into Wednesday's game in schizophrenic form with Saturday's defeat to Heracles epitomising the Dutch outfit's erratic form at present. Since the return of the Eredevise after the winter break, Ajax recorded a 4-4 draw at home to Heerenveen, suffered a humiliating defeat in Rotterdam 6-2 to rivals Feyenoord and bounced back the following week putting six past VVV Venlo. Saturday's defeat is only the third league loss suffered by Erik Ten Hag's men but the timing of the defeat will do little to quell the growing anxiety currently sweeping through the Ajax fan-base after a bright start to the 2018-19 season.
