Eintracht Frankfurt will visit the Amsterdam Arena for Thursday’s first leg of their Europa Conference League last-16 clash against Ajax.
The Bundesliga side finished in fifth spot in the league phase to progress straight to the last 16, while Ajax had to come through a tricky tie against Union Saint-Gilloise.
Match preview
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Ajax finished the league phase in 12th place and one point short of the top eight after they won four, drew one and lost three of their eight matches.
The Dutch giants were handed a knockout round playoff tie against outfit Union Saint-Gilloise, which appeared to be in their control when they recorded a 2-0 victory in Belgium.
However, they saw their lead wiped out in the opening half-hour in the return leg, as the Belgian side scored either side of a Davy Klaasen red card to force Ajax to dig deep to send the tie to an additional 30 minutes.
Despite being a man-light, Ajax scored the decisive goal in extra time, with Kenneth Taylor keeping his composure from the penalty spot to set up a last-16 tie with Frankfurt for a place in the quarter-finals against either AZ Alkmaar or Tottenham Hotspur.
Francesco Farioli‘s have warmed for the last-16 first leg with league wins over Go Ahead Eagles and Almere City, helping them establish an eight-point lead at the top of the Eredivisie table.
Ajax have reason to be confident for Thursday’s fixture having lost just one of their last 21 home matches against German clubs in major UEFA competitions (W17, D3).
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While Ajax are hoping to win this competition for the first time since 1991-92, Frankfurt are dreaming of replicating their success from the 2021-22 Europa League when they went all the way under Oliver Glasner to lift the trophy for the second time in their history.
Die Adler would have been pleased with their fifth-place finish in the league phase after they recorded five wins, one draw and two defeats in eight matches.
However, they will head into the last 16 off the back of a couple of heavy Bundesliga defeats, losing 4-0 away to leaders Bayern Munich before slumping to a 4-1 defeat in Saturday’s home meeting with second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
Frankfurt, who occupy third spot in the Bundesliga, have now won just one of their last seven competitive matches (D3, L3) since they started 2025 with four consecutive victories.
Dino Toppmoller may also be concerned by the fact his team lost their final two away games of the league phase against Lyon and Roma.
They have at least advanced from six of their previous last-16 ties in UEFA competition, including a 3-2 aggregate win after extra-time against Real Betis on their way to winning the Europa League in 2021-22.
Team News
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Ajax are expected to be without the services of Owen Wijndal, Youri Regeer, Christian Rasmussen and Wout Weghorst.
Klaasen is suspended for Thursday’s first leg after being shown a straight red card in last month’s knockout-round playoff.
Braga loanee Matheus has started the last two league matches, but the January addition has been omitted from Ajax’s Europa League squad, meaning the experienced Remko Pasveer will return to the side after recovering from a back issue.
As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon defender Timothy Chandler, who is currently sidelined with a thigh injury.
The injured Igor Matanovic has been left out of Frankfurt’s Europa League squad, while Oscar Hojlund has also been omitted from the A list for the knockout rounds.
Winter additions Michy Batshuayi, Arthur Theate and Elye Wahi have all made the cut, with the latter two likely to feature in Thursday’s starting lineup.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Gaaei, Rugani, Baas, Hato; Fitz-Jim, Taylor, Mokio; Berghuis, Godts, Brobbey
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Collins, Koch, Theate; Kristensen, Skhiri, Larsson, Gotze, Borwn; Ekitike, Wahi
We say: Ajax 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt would have been disappointed to concede eight goals across their last two Bundesliga games, and while we do not expect that sort of damage in Thursday’s fixture, we do think they will fall just short in Amsterdam, especially as they have lost their previous two European away matches.
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