Ajax and Marseille may both be former UEFA Champions League/European Cup winners, but the pair are vying for glory in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) this season. Ajax, who won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987, have had an underwhelming start to league life under new head coach Maurice Steijn (W1, D2, L1), currently sitting 12th in the Eredivisie. Their progress to UEL Group B was similarly unconvincing, defeating Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad 4-2 on aggregate during the play-off round despite losing the home leg.
That said, the Dutch giants can look to their record against French clubs for inspiration, having won 15 of their 30 such meetings (D7, L8) and twice knocked Marseille out of European competition from the three times they’ve been drawn together. If that’s not enough, home fans should be buoyed further by the fact that Ajax have won their opening home game in each of their last two continental campaigns ‘to nil’ (against Beşiktaş and Rangers in the UCL).
Marseille, meanwhile, are unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season, but with former boss Marcelino departing during the week, their preparations have been rocked for this clash. The club cited “non-sporting reasons” for his departure, but being knocked out on penalties by Panathinaikos in the UCL third qualifying round, duly demoting them to the group stage of Europe’s second tier club competition, certainly won’t have helped his cause.
On a more positive note, they did eliminate Ajax en route to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2009, the last year before it became the UEL. But recent history isn’t kind to them, as since their most recent UEL final in 2018, they have been dumped at the group stage in their two subsequent appearances in the competition without winning away from home.
Players to watch: Steven Bergwijn has three goal involvements to his name so far this term (G2, A1), all of which have occurred from the 50th minute onwards. Matching him on that tally though is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who netted twice against Panathinaikos in Marseille’s last European outing, taking his career total in continental competitions to 46.
Hot stat: One team has scored at least three goals in each of Ajax’s last five home European group-stage matches.
