Ajax Amsterdam vs Rangers Preview

Reigning Dutch champions Ajax will welcome 2021/22 UEFA Europa League finalists Rangers to the Johan Cruijff Arena for the first leg of their 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage game.

The Eredivisie outfit are playing in the group stage of the Champions League after winning their third straight Eredivisie title last summer under the stewardship of Erik ten Hag.

But so far, the Holland manager has left for Manchester United alongside former Ajax players Lisandro Martinez and Anthony, leaving Ajax short of two of their key players from last season.

However, new manager Alfred Schreuder has made some shrewd replacement signings, including former Rangers’ defender Calvin Bassey.

Under their new manager, Ajax have kicked off their league campaign with a perfect start, winning all five games so far and scoring 16 times.

Having been put in a difficult group alongside Liverpool and Napoli, they will come into this tie hoping to record a result that will give them the advantage in the race for the top two spots in the group.

Given that they are on a run of seven unbeaten games across their last eight in the UCL (W6, D1), Schreuder will hope that his charges can continue to turn domestic dominance into strong performances in this competition.

After their embarrassing 4-0 loss to Celtic in the Old Firm Derby last weekend, Rangers will attempt to pick themselves back up when they travel to Amsterdam on Wednesday.

The visitors came agonizingly close to winning the Europa League last season but fell at the last hurdle to German side Eintracht Frankfurt.

And so they qualified for this stage of the UCL by  beating Royale Union and PSV in the last round despite being on the losing end in both games. Their latest win in the UCL qualifiers –a 1-0 away win in Eindhoven saw them score their first goal in four European away games and secure only their second victory in 12 (D4, L6).

Rangers come into this tournament–their first since the 2010/11 season looking for another remarkable run akin to what they enjoyed last season when they went all the way to the final of the Europa League.

Boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be hoping that his men can put up a good performance when he takes them to face his old De Klassieker rivals Ajax, the side he faced most often without ever winning against as a player (D4, L8).