Real Madrid likely to outclass Ajax in Champions League encounter at the Bernabeu
Real Madrid kicked off their Champions League campaign with a gritty 1-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, and Jose Mourinho’s men should take another step towards qualifying for the knockout stages by seeing off Dutch outfit Ajax at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
Mourinho will be without Fabio Coentrao and Pepe, while Ricardo Carvalho may also be forced to miss the match through injury, but the former Chelsea and Inter boss has a strong squad at his disposal, and I’d be surprised if the visitors can get anything from this match, especially bearing in mind that Los Blancos beat them by an aggregate of 6-0 when they clashed over two legs in this competition last term.
Madrid have already had blips domestically this season; a shock defeat at the hands of Levante was followed by a draw at Racing Santander, but Los Merengues were on fire on home soil at the weekend, thrashing Rayo Vallecano 6-2, a result which featured a hat-trick for Cristiano Ronaldo.
In terms of pedigree, Ajax remain a big club – they're certainly the leading lights in Dutch club football – but it’s fair to say that they’re a shadow of the side that won this competition in 1995 when beating AC Milan in the final, and they will simply be outclassed in the Spanish capital on Tuesday.
With Ronaldo in such good form, the Portuguese rates a solid bet at 3-1 in the first goalscorer market with expekt. If able to remain injury-free and continuing in current form, the former Manchester United man will have every chance of ending the season as the top scorer in this competition, as well as La Liga. A 3-0 or 4-0 verdict to the home side looks likely - it'll be very much a case of damage limitation for the visitors.