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Champions League: Napoli vs. Ajax Prediction

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Fresh off an emphatic 6-1 victory over Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena, Napoli will welcome the Dutch powerhouse at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for a rematch.

Another win for the Neapolitans will assure them of a Champions League knockout stage place.

Apart from avenging the recent humiliation, Ajax need to take points from the game to stay in contention for the knockout stages.

Napoli on fire

Luciano Spaletti’s men affirmed their status as one of the most formidable attacking units in the continent by cruising to a 6-1 win away at Ajax Amsterdam last week.

The Johan Cruyff Arena crowd celebrated an early goal that put the hosts ahead. But, they were soon left in shellshock as the visitors responded by putting half a dozen goals past Ajax custodian Remko Pasveer.

Napoli took their destructive form to Serie A as they demolished Cremonese 4-1 to pick up another dominant away win.

It was Napoli’s 10th win in 12 matches. Giovanni Simeone, who scored the sixth goal at Ajax, found the net once again. Matteo Politano, Hirving Lozano, and Mathías Olivera made up the rest of the scoreline for the away side.

Other than Atalanta, Napoli are the only side in Serie A yet to taste defeat this season.

A 22-goal haul by their attackers has been instrumental to their rise to the Serie A top spot.

Napoli forwards have thrived in Europe as well, having hit the target 13 times in three outings. So, Napoli fans can hope to see their team pass the Champions League Round-of-16 stage for the first time in their history.

However, they still need three more points to book their RO16 tickets.

The horrific experience of their 6-1 thrashing to Napoli last week will haunt Ajax for a long time, but de Godenzonen must start anew on Wednesday night to bring something back from their trip to Naples.

The five-time European champions started their Champions League campaign with a remarkable 4-0 victory at home before suffering a narrow 2-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield.

The 6-1 loss to Napoli have left them third in the group with three points under their belt.

If Liverpool manages to beat Rangers at home and Ajax lose again, the Reds will go six points clear of the Eredivisie giants. That scenario will all but confirm Ajax’s elimination from the Champions League group stages.

Ajax do have some inspiration to take from their weekend Eredivisie performance ahead of their crunch clash with Napoli.

Alfred Schreuder’s men picked up a 4-2 win at Volendam to stay only one point away from table toppers AZ Alkmaar.

Team news

The Ajax camp will not be thrilled to know that Napoli will get back their prolific striker Victor Osimhen from injury on Wednesday night.

One of Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone might have to make way for the Nigeria international.

Amir Rrahmani will take a late fitness test to know whether or not he will be ready to feature in the Napoli backline. Leo Ostigard will be ready to deputise in his absence.

Skipper Dušan Tadić will not be travelling with the Ajax squad as he will serve suspension for getting sent off in the reverse fixture. Lucas Ocampos or Francisco Conceição might replace the Croatian in the starting XI.

Ajax will be desperate for a win since their Champions League survival is on the line.

While the scoreline is likely to be more competitive than their last encounter, we don’t see Ajax stopping the unbeaten run of Spaletti’s high flying Napoli.

It could be a 2-1 win for Napoli.

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‘They have to be favourites’ – Liverpool ‘perfect’ in Champions League

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Liverpool’s impeccable start to the season has made them strong contenders for the Champions League. After securing a place in the knockout rounds with a win over Girona, they’ve maintained a perfect European record.

Rio Ferdinand praised their momentum, highlighting their position as favorites based on form, though he cautioned that freshness, particularly for key players like Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah, will be crucial. Stephen Warnock echoed this sentiment, noting that Liverpool is a formidable opponent in both the Premier League and Champions League.

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WATCH: Georgina Rodriguez makes huge claim on Cristiano Ronaldo’s retirement in Football

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Cristiano Ronaldo

Georgina Rodriguez made a huge claim on the future of her husband and star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Football. In a brief interaction with a host recently, Rodriguez was asked about the time left for Cristiano to make an impact at the highest level. Georgina looked honest in her approach to the question of the host and claimed something the fans would not love to hear.

Georgina claimed that the Portugal star has maybe one year more from him at the highest level. She felt that Ronaldo might play two more years before retiring and not more than that. She was however not sure if he would play for just one or two years and added that the Al Nassr star could also play more than that.

Watch the video of Georgina Rodriguez here –

 

“Cristiano one more year, then it’s over. Maybe two, I don’t know,” said Rodriguez in the little chat she had with the host. The video has gone viral on X and the fans have started sharing it on different platforms. Some of the fans feel that Georgina might be right, while others feel that she could be wrong, given the fitness and longevity of the star player.

Legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo

On the 5th of February, Ronaldo celebrated his 39th birthday. He is currently one of the oldest players in the world. In the past, players at this age would have retired way back. But the fitness and consistency of Ronaldo make him play the sport as long as he wishes. In his career so far, Ronaldo has won many major leagues for Portugal and league teams like Real Madrid, Al Nassr, and Manchester United.

With United, Portugal won some major leagues like the FA Cup and the Champions League. With Real Madrid, the 39-year-old won the leagues like the UCL, Copa Del Rey and La Liga. He won it three consecutive times for Real Madrid. For Portugal, Cristiano had a huge contribution to Portugal. He has the most number of appearances and goals for an international team and won the Euro 2016 with Portugal.

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Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham slapped with Red Card as he argued with referee

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Jude Bellingham shown Red Card
Jude Bellingham shown Red Card (Image Credit: Twitter)

England and Real Madrid player Jude Bellingham was slapped with a Red Card during the La Liga game against Valencia. In the game, the home team, Valencia was leading by 2-0 after 30 minutes before Madrid scored in the injury time of the first half. Vinicius Junior opened the scoring for Madrid while Hugo Duro (27′) and Roman Yaremchuk (30′) scored a goal each.

In the 76th minute, Junior scored an equalizer to keep the team in the game. However, in the injury time of the second half, Bellingham was given a red card as he argued with the referee against calling it a full-time before he could score. In reply, the match official decided to slap the England international with a Red Card. The team coach Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t happy with the verdict as the Three Lions player was making a pass at the time.

“I think what’s just happened is unprecedented. It’s never happened to me,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“We had possession of the ball and the match should have been finished when Valencia had the ball.

“What bothers us is the red card for Bellingham because he didn’t say anything insulting. He was frustrated of course,” said Ancelotti, adding that Bellingham had used a common English swearword when telling the referee it was a goal.

We are annoyed with Jude Bellingham’s Red Card: Carlo Ancelotti

“We were annoyed with Bellingham’s red card. He didn’t say any insults. He said in English ‘it’s a f—ing goal,’ but he was just saying what we were all thinking … [The referee] allowed play to continue. I think he made a mistake.”

“[Bellingham] was clear in what he said,” Ancelotti added. “He was quite vehement [in his reaction] but that’s normal, after what happened. It wasn’t an insult, not at all.”

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