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Tottenham chasing history, Ajax eye crucial turnaround in home form – Champions League in Opta numbe

SoccerNews in Eredivisie 6 May 2019

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Ajax will look to reach their first UEFA Champions League final for 23 years when they host Tottenham at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Wednesday.

Erik ten Hag’s exciting young side were 1-0 victors in north London last week, with Donny van de Beek’s early goal proving enough to see off Mauricio Pochettino’s men, who were missing star forwards Harry Kane and Son Heung-min through injury and suspension respectively.

Ajax won the KNVB Beker on Sunday with a 4-0 victory over Willem II and the Eredivisie leaders will be in the hunt for the treble, while Tottenham are looking to end a bad run of form, especially on the road, having lost their last six away from home in the Premier League.

Either Barcelona or Liverpool will be awaiting in the final at the Wanda Metroplitano. Here we look at some of the best Opta facts ahead of the Amsterdam clash.

 

1 – Only one team has lost the first leg of a Champions League semi-final at home and progressed to the final – Ajax in 1995-96.

40 – Tottenham would become the 40th different team to reach the European Cup/Champions League final and the first to reach their first final since London rivals Chelsea in 2008.

17 – Ajax have played 17 games in the Champions League this season, including six in qualifying. They have lost just one of these encounters – a 2-1 home reverse against Real Madrid in the round of 16.

3 – Ajax are without a win in their last three Champions League home games. In addition to their loss to Real Madrid, they drew with Juventus in the quarter-final and Bayern Munich in their final group stage game.

38 – Ajax’s joint-heaviest home defeat to an English team came 38 years ago – a 3-1 reverse to Tottenham in September 1981.

4 – Son Heung-min, who was suspended for the first leg in London last week, has scored half of Tottenham’s Champions League knockout stage goals this season, with four out of eight.

1 – Tottenham had just one shot on target in the first leg of this semi-final tie, their joint-lowest total in a Champions League match.

4 – Hakim Ziyech has scored or assisted a goal in four of Ajax’s five Champions League knockout matches this season, including setting up Donny van de Beek for the winner in north London.

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