Ajax v APOEL background

A place in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase is at stake when the bottom two teams in Group F, AFC Ajax and APOEL FC, meet on matchday six.

• Ajax are a point better off than bottom-placed APOEL and need only avoid defeat to tie up a third-placed finish in their UEFA Champions League group for the fifth season running. APOEL need a victory on what is their first trip to the Netherlands.

• The clubs drew 1-1 in Nicosia on matchday two.

Match background

Ajax
• Winless after five fixtures, Ajax are looking to avoid an unwanted first as they have never finished a UEFA Champions League group campaign without at least one victory.

• Ajax have lost their last three matches in Group F. They last suffered three straight defeats in a European season in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage; they have never lost four in a row.

• Ajax's most recent home meeting with Cypriot opposition brought a 2-0 win against Apollon Limassol FC in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup first round (aggregate 5-0).

• Ajax's second biggest victory in UEFA competition was against Cypriot club AC Omonia – 10-0 in Amsterdam in the 1979/80 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round. They lost the second leg 4-0 in Cyprus.

APOEL
• APOEL are still seeking a first away victory in the UEFA Champions League proper; their record from ten matches is W0 D5 L5.

• The Cypriot champions have yet to score away from home in Group F after losses at FC Barcelona (0-1) and Paris Saint-Germain (0-1). Indeed with one goal overall, APOEL are the competition's lowest scorers.

• Barring a victory in Amsterdam, APOEL will record their lowest points' haul in a UEFA Champions League group stage on what is their third appearance in the competition.

Coach and player links
• Giorgos Donis was in the Panathinaikos FC team beaten by Frank de Boer's Ajax in the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Panathinaikos won the first leg 1-0 in Amsterdam – Donis himself set up the goal after a 40-metre break from his own half – but Ajax then triumphed 3-0 in Athens. Edwin van der Sar, now Ajax's marketing director, also played.

• De Boer's Netherlands won 4-0 at the GSP Stadium in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Cyprus on 7 October 2000.

• Marc Overmars, now Ajax director of football affairs, and Van der Sar played with De Boer in that 2000 Nicosia qualifier and again in the Oranje's 4-0 win in the Eindhoven return.

• Kolbeinn Sigthórsson hit Iceland's first goal in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over a Cyprus side including Constantinos Charalambides, Stathis Aloneftis, Nektarios Alexandrou and second-half substitutes Pieros Sotiriou and George Efrem in Reykjavik in October 2013.

• Efrem was in the Omonia team that defeated ADO Den Haag 3-1 on aggregate in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, winning the first leg 3-0 at the GSP Stadium.

• Viktor Fischer and Sotiriou each scored twice in Denmark's 6-2 home win over Cyprus in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite round in May 2012. Lucas Andersen and Kostas Artymatas also played.

• Striker Nikos Machlas won domestic league and cups with both Ajax and APOEL.

Match facts

Ajax
• Joël Veltman is available after serving a one-game ban on matchday five. Anwar El Ghazi, Davy Klaassen, Veltman and Niklas Moisander are all a booking away from suspension.

• Ajax recorded their biggest home win of the season on Saturday, defeating Willem II 5-0.

• Klaassen has scored in each of Ajax's last three games.

• The Amsterdam outfit are 11 games unbeaten in the Eredivisie, winning five of their last six league matches.

• Arkadiusz Milik has scored 18 goals in his last 16 outings for club and country, including six as Ajax beat amateur Amsterdam side JOS Watergraafsmeer 9-0 in the Dutch Cup on 24 September.

• Lucas Andersen made his senior international debut as Denmark lost 2-0 to Romania in a friendly on 18 November.

• Viktor Fischer has been out with a hamstring injury since 23 February.

• Nicolai Boilesen was ruled out for ten weeks after sustaining a right knee injury on matchday five. Kolbeinn Sigthórsson picked up an ankle injury against Willem II.

• Jasper Cillessen signed a two-year contract extension on 2 December tying the goalkeeper to the club until June 2018.

• On 28 November, Queensy Menig agreed a four-year deal that commits him to Ajax until June 2019.

APOEL
• João Guilherme is serving a ban following his matchday five dismissal.

• APOEL have failed to score in four of their last six matches.

• Giorgos Efrem's winner in APOEL's 1-0 victory against AC Omonia on 30 November was the Cypriot side's first goal in 402 minutes.

• Including their final three games of last season, APOEL are 15 league matches unbeaten.

• APOEL have conceded just 15 goals in 22 games this term in all competitions, including just two in 12 in the Cypriot top flight.

• Efrem became the first player to score a hat-trick for Cyprus in November's 5-0 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying victory over Andorra.