Champions League: Juventus v Ajax betting preview, tip and TV details

TV: BT Sport 3, Tuesday 8pm

Ajax defied the odds to flip their Champions League last-16 encounter on its head and a magical night in Turin could see the plucky Dutch make the competition's last four for the first time since 1997.

Erik ten Hag's men overturned a 2-1 deficit to crush reigning champions Real Madrid 4-1 at the Bernabeu in the last round and look overpriced to replicate those heroics.

Juventus are arguably a tier above the struggling Spaniards this season but any air of invincibility has been quashed in recent weeks following defeats to Genoa and Spal, a lacklustre win over Empoli and a disappointing performance in the first leg.

The Eredivisie side were clearly on top when the sides squared up in Amsterdam, winning the shot count 19-7 and seeing 61 per cent possession.

A front four comprising Dusan Tadic, Hakim Ziyech, goalscorer David Neres and Donny van de Beek consistently unsettled Juve's rearguard in the opening stages and they should have established a comfortable advantage before Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring.

The Portuguese superstar is capable of turning any tie and, having been rested for the defeat to Spal, he will be all the fresher for the visit of Ajax.

But beyond their main man, the Dutch could have their opponents beaten across the pitch.

• 2018-19 Champions League
• Serie A
• Eredivisie

The Old Lady's midfield has been chopped and changed due to a string of injuries, with Blaise Matuidi the latest uncertainty for this fixture, while Giorgio Chiellini is unlikely to be at full fitness if he features.

The onus is on Max Allegri's men, who recognise they will be judged predominantly on their success in this competition, while Ajax are exceeding expectation by merely having made the quarter-finals.

Their fearless attacking approach has seen them register 106 league goals with four matches still to play and they took points from their two big away trips to Benfica and Bayern Munich in the group stage before hammering Madrid.

Juve's big-game mentality has, meanwhile, been thrown into question this season.

They allowed a sub-par Manchester United to overturn them in Turin in November before being completely outplayed in a fortunate win over Napoli and losing to Atletico Madrid in the quarter-final first leg.

Allegri's side only progressed by virtue of a Ronaldo masterclass coupled with questionable Atletico defending in the return and, although the formidable forward seems capable of winning any knockout clash single-handedly, his side should be swerved at short odds.

Recommendation
Ajax to qualify
1pt 5-2 Betfred

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Team news
Juventus
Giorgio Chiellini, Mattia Perin and Martin Caceres were not in training but Douglas Costa and Emre Can could feature.

Ajax
Frenkie de Jong came off against Excelsior on Saturday but Ten Hag labelled it a precautionary measure and he has travelled. Left-back Nico Tagliafico is suspended

Key stat
Ajax have lost only one of their nine Champions League fixtures this season.

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