AMSTERDAM--Ajax welcome Bayern Munich to the Johan Cruyff Arena on Wednesday night when Group E's top two sides will battle it out for the right to progress as group winners.?
Bayern currently have a two-point cushion over their Dutch counterparts heading into the final matchday, but know that a loss would result in a second placed finish - potentially meaning a tougher draw in the last-16 of the competition. In the reverse fixture at the Allianz Arena, Ajax came from behind to earn a credible point during an entertaining 1-1 draw in which they arguably could have taken all three points back to Amsterdam. On Wednesday both sides will be gunning for victory as they will want to avoid the likes of ?Barcelona, ?Real Madrid and ?Manchester City, who have all confirmed their place as group winners. Ajax have developed an exciting young team which has flourished in recent weeks. Centre back Matthijs de Ligt and midfielder Frenkie de Jong have taken the headlines this season and are expected to start once more against the German champions. Ajax have been fortunate to have a settled side during the current campaign with few injuries, and will only be without Joel Veltman and Boureima Bande for Wednesday's clash, as they are still recovering from their respective injuries. Ex-Premier League stars Daley Blind and Dusan Tadic are also likely to start in Ajax's quest to finish top of Group E. Young striker Kasper Dolberg will be looking to continue his impressive recent form after bagging six goals in the Eredivisie this season, he will compete with veteran striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to lead the line. But Coach Erik ten Hag could also choose to play Tadic at the centre of attack as he did away in Munich. ?Bayern have a few injury issues to deal with as key first team players Arjen Robben, ?James Rodriguez and Corentin Tolisso are unlikely to feature. Tolisso and James are recovering from long-term knee injuries and will certainly be missing, whilst Robben was ruled out for Wednesday night after picking up a thigh injury against Benfica. Injuries have allowed new signings Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka to flourish, and the pair will be expected to start in Amsterdam and will be looking to provide the service to star striker Robert Lewandowski, who continues to fire in the goals for Die Bayern. The Pole has nine Bundesliga goals already this campaign and is the club's leading scorer by some distance ahead of ?Thomas Muller. FW: This message was moved to the Junk Email folder because you only trust email from senders in your Safe Senders list. It's not spam Steven R. De Windt <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> Wed 12/12/2018, 10:41 AM From: Paul De Windt <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2018 8:44 AM To: Steven R. De Windt <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; Thomas Burnett <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; Joey Schröder <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> Subject: Pls add to sports(int)/facebook
