Chelsea vs Ajax Women's Champions League preview: Where to watch, line-ups
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
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When is it? How can you watch it? What are the line-ups? All you need to know about the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg between Chelsea and Ajax.
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Chelsea and Ajax meet in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday 27 March at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea vs Ajax at a glance
When: Wednesday 27 March (21:00CET kick-off)
Where: Stamford Bridge, London
What: UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg
How to follow: Build-up can be found here
Semi-finals: Winners vs Brann or Barcelona (20/21 & 27/28 April; Chelsea or Ajax at home in second leg)
What do you need to know
A Dutch women's record crowd of 35,997 was sent home largely disappointed last Tuesday as Chelsea came away from Johan Cruijff ArenA with a 3-0 win courtesy of a Lauren James goal and two by Sjoeke Nüsken. Chelsea have now won the first leg of all five of their Women's Champions League quarter-finals, and proceeded to go through from the previous four ties.
Mayra Ramírez is available in attack for her potential first European appearance since joining Chelsea but fellow January signing Nathalie Björn did not get through Tuesday training so remains sidelined along with Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel, Aniek Nouwen, Millie Bright, Maren Mjelde and Ann-Katrin Berger.
Ajax missed captain Sherida Spitse from defence in the first leg through suspension and although she can play at Stamford Bridge, 16-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes, who again impressed against Chelsea, is now banned. Romée Leuchter, who earlier this month became Ajax's all-time leading scorer, signalled her intent on Saturday with a hat-trick against Zwolle as they closed the gap to Twente to four points.
The only other previous Dutch quarter-finalists, Saestum, lost both legs of their tie in 2006/07, and Ajax will hope to at least avoid that fate even if a comeback to make the semis would easily eclipse even their group stage heroics, which were based largely on three home wins.
Form guide
Chelsea
Last six games: WWWWWW
Last match: West Ham 0-2 Chelsea, 24/03, league
Where they stand: 1st in FA Women's Super League, FA Cup semi-finals, League Cup final
Ajax
Last six games: WLWWWW
Last match: Ajax 3-2 Zwolle, 23/03, league
Where they stand: 2nd in Vrouwen Eredivisie, Dutch Cup semi-finals
Where to watch
Streaming platform DAZN is removing its paywall to the largest portfolio of women's football worldwide, including the UEFA Women's Champions League. This will drive audience growth and provide a new global home for women's football, offering greater access to games, content and the international women's football community.
Selected matches are also streamed free on DAZN's YouTube channel throughout the world with the exception of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – where rights include clips and highlights – and China and its territories.
The YouTube stream will also be embedded in the UEFA.com MatchCentres and on UEFA.tv for selected UEFA Women's Champions League games, with highlights to follow at midnight CET.
Possible starting line-ups
Chelsea: Musovic; Périsset, Carter, Buchanan, Lawrence; Cuthbert, Ingle, Kirby; Beever-Jones, Ramírez, Reiten
Misses next match if booked: none
Ajax: Van Eijk; Kardinaal, Spitse, De Sanders, De Klonia; Noordam, Van Gool, Van de Velde; Grant, Leuchter, T. Hoekstra
Suspended: Yohannes
Misses next match if booked: Grant, Noordam
View from the camps
Emma Hayes, Chelsea manager: "The fear of losing, the fear not being in that semi-final, is for us as big a drive as the desire for winning, in fact it's more. There is no one in that dressing room who will take the game lightly or think for one minute just because we are winning 3-0 the game is over. Where a team has nothing to lose, 3-0 down, they play with freedom, they play in a different way to express themselves and they are often the most dangerous opponents."
Suzanne Bakker, Ajax coach: "We know three goals is quite a big difference but as I said last week, the ball is round and everything is still possible. We want to show that we are quick to learn and that this is an extra experience for us. We've learned about defending inside the box, we will show that we have learned our lesson.
"It's very nice to have Spitse [back from suspension]. She has a lot of experience in her backpack. She can help the younger players so they can focus on fewer things with her there."
Rosa van Gool, Ajax midfielder: "Having [Spitse] on the pitch – literally behind me – she can help me by coaching me, telling me where to be. It takes away some of the tension from the player so she gets to enjoy it and we get to enjoy it.
"We started very well [in the first leg] and had a big chance early on. Then it became a bit more difficult down the middle and we started struggling a bit. But we've analysed it and learned from the situation, and I think we will be able to show that."
Where is the 2024 UEFA Women's Champions League final being played?
San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao will stage the 2024 Women's Champions League final at 18:00 CET on Saturday 25 May.
The 50,000-plus capacity home of Bilbao's Athletic Club was built on the site of the old San Mamés, replacing the 100-year-old arena of the same name in 2013. Athletic Club women's team have played several games in the new stadium, attracting 48,121 fans for a 2019 cup tie against Atlético de Madrid, at the time a Spanish record.