Champions League Odds – Ajax vs. Barcelona
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:40 am ESTPublished:
Ajax (+800) vs. Barcelona (-250) (Draw +400)
After two consecutive defeats in Spain’s La Liga, Barcelona will land in Amsterdam to play a Champions League fixture against Ajax. Kick-off will be at 2:45 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, November 5.
Barcelona and Ajax have faced each other three times in the Champions League, and Barcelona leads the series two wins to one. The last meeting was in October in Spain and “Los Culés” won 3-1. Though Barcelona will be on the road and does not appear to be on top form, the Spaniards are still favored for Wednesday’s match, listed at -250 in the moneyline, while Ajax is at +800, and the draw +400.
After beating Ajax in the last fixture, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said the key was keeping Ajax on its own side of the field.
“The key was to not let them build up from the back, apply pressure, not let them play. And they hardly created anything in the first 45 minutes. I am here for the team to improve, for the team to be a team and get better in all aspects of the game,” Enrique told the UEFA website.
On the other side, Ajax coach Frank de Boer said his team was not aggressive enough, a mistake they want to avoid this Wednesday.
“The problem for me is that we treated Barcelona with too much respect. Their first goal was fantastic, world class. But for the second [goal] we have nobody to blame but ourselves. You cannot make such mistakes against Barcelona,” said de Boer.
Barcelona and Ajax are part of Group F. Barcelona is currently in second place in the group (behind Paris St. Germain) with six points (2W, 0D, 1L) and a +2 goal difference. Ajax is in the third place with two points (0W, 2D, 1L) and a -2 differential.
With Barcelona struggling and Ajax playing at home (where they previously drew 1-1 with PSG), the draw looks like good value.
(Photo credit: Christopher Johnson (Flickr: Lionel Messi Player of the Year 2011) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped from its original.)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
