Ajax Vs Inter Milan Champions League: Classic Duel Occurs At Johan Cruyff Arena Amsterdam

Jakarta Ajax Amsterdam will start their journey in the Champions League for the 2025/26 season with a tough match against Inter Milan, last season's finalists, on Wednesday night 17 September local time at the Johan Cruyff Arena. This fight repeats the memories of the 1997 European Cup final, when Ajax beat Inter at Rotterdam.

Ajax came into this game unbeaten since the start of the season. John Heatinga's men, who returned to the club after being assistants at West Ham United and Liverpool, have recorded three home wins, despite losing points twice in away matches. Last week, they beat PEC Zwolle 3-1.

However, the image of last season's failure still surrounds the club. Ajax had a nine-point lead at the top of Eredivisie in March after beating PSV, but their performance plummeted at the end of the season so they failed to win. In addition, they were eliminated in the last 16 of the Europa League and failed to win KNVB Beker. Ajax's last big trophy was three years ago.

Now, the challenge is back on the Champions League stage. Ajax has only escaped the group stage once in the last four seasons since reaching the 2019 semifinals. Against Inter, they brought a new spirit, although the meeting record did not take sides: Ajax has never won in the last four matches against the Nerazzurri, with three defeats.

In the visitors' camp, Inter Milan also came up with their own problems. Last season they failed to defend the Scudetto, overtaken by Napoli in the final weeks of Serie A. However, the biggest injuries occurred in the 2025 Champions League final, when they were humiliated by Paris Saint-Germain 5-0. The defeat was Simone Inzaghi's last match as coach.

The coaching chair was then given to Cristian Chivu, a former Inter defender and former Ajax player. Despite the lack of experience in coaching at the senior level, Chivu has brought Inter to the knockout stages of the Club World Cup. However, the start of the trip in Serie A is still unstable. After beating Torino 5-0, they lost to Udinese and fell in Derby d'Italia against Juventus with a score of 4-3.

This successive defeat is clearly not the ideal capital to face Ajax. However, Inter still have a slick record: losing only once to the last 14 Champions League Group/League phase matches, with eight clean sheets in the last nine matches.

Heatinga is almost able to field the full squad. The only player absent was Branco van den Boomen with a back injury. On the front lines, Wout Weghorst was still relied on despite failing to score last week's goal, while Mika Godts, who scored two goals, will start again. Steven Berghuis completed the attacking trident.

In midfield, Kenneth Taylor, who last season scored 15 goals in a duet with new signings Oscar Gloukh, who is already experienced in the Champions League with Salzburg.

Meanwhile, Inter came with a complete squad. Manuel Akanji's new recruit has debuted in Serie A and has the opportunity to appear from the start. Other new names such as Petar Sucic, Andy Diouf, and Ange-Yoan Bonny can also be fielded if Chivu wants to reshuffle the team line. In front of the deadly duo Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram are still at the forefront, with Lautaro bringing a capital of nine goals in the Champions League last season.

Ajax has an advantage as the host and solid performance at the start of the season. However, Inter are still experienced at the European level, even though they are convex after successive defeats. With the strength of the attacks of both teams, the match is predicted to take place openly.

Ajax (4-3-3): Jaros; Gaaei, Itakura, Baas, Wijndal; Regeer, Taylor, Klaassen; Berghuis, Weghorst, Godts.

Inter Milan (3-5-2): Sommer; Akanji, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Sucic, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez.

Prediction: Ajax 2-2 Inter Milan.