Champions League team profiles: Real Madrid v Ajax

Holders strike late in first leg

Real Madrid are 9-1 from 12-1 to win the Champions League following a 2-1 victory away to Ajax in Amsterdam.

The holders survived several scares in the first half, including VAR overturning a Nicolas Tagliafico goal for offside, before Karim Benzema made them pay with the opening goal.

Hakim Ziyech equalised for Ajax but Marco Asensio delivered a late blow to the Dutch outfit with the winner for Real Madrid.

Sergio Ramos will be banned for the second leg after a late caution which he has denied was a deliberate act to clear his card count.

Real are 1-12 to qualify with Ajax at 9-1.

Real Madrid profile

How they qualified
A turbulent first part of the season included two excellent wins over Roma and a couple of dismal defeats to CSKA Moscow.

Form
Real Madrid won the Club World Cup and are now playing their best stuff of the campaign, winning six and drawing one of their last seven. That draw was away to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg and Saturday's 3-1 success at Atletico Madrid was another major step in the right direction with new coach Santiago Solari bringing a sense of calm.

Winter transfer action
Brahim Diaz signed from Manchester City and third-choice keeper Kiko Casilla left for Leeds.

Prospects
Madrid have won the Champions League three times in a row and in four of the last five years so it would be bonkers to discount them at a double-figure price.

Ajax profile

How they qualified
Ajax's European adventure started in July and after three qualifying ties the Dutch outfit showed further evidence of a growing maturity to deservedly finish second to Bayern Munich. They twice drew with Bayern and could quite easily have triumphed in Munich.

Form
The wheels have fallen off Ajax's title charge with a 4-4 draw with Heerenveen and 6-2 loss at Feyenoord before suffering an even more surprising loss, going down 1-0 at Heracles on Saturday.

Winter transfer action
Classy midfielder Frenkie de Jong agreed to join Barcelona for the summer which seems to have become a distraction. Boca Juniors defender Lisandro Magallan was the biggest arrival but he was hooked inside an hour of his league debut at Feyenoord.

Prospects
It's great to see Ajax in the knockout stage for the first time since 2006, but it's likely to be a brief return to Europe's top table.