The ending of the first European competition this year will happen tonight. Friends Arena at Stockholm will be the value of an epic clash between Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester United, and the steak will be the place in the Champions League and the trophy of Europa League, the second most prestigious competition in Europe.
All the statistical categories in these kinds of games are not important, so we are not going to bother you with numbers and trends, and we are going to have a different approach for tonight's event.
Ajax Amsterdam
After 22 years Ajax Amsterdam will have a chance to win a European trophy. After 1995 when they defeated AC Milan in the Champions League finals, the Dutch club didn't have an opportunity to reach the silverware. This will be their 15th appearance in finals, and so far they have 10 victories and 4 defeats.
Since they lost the title in the national championship by only one point, one of the youngest teams in the history of European competitions, will for sure, try to win tonight and to make history in Stockholm.
Ajax: Starting Lineup
Onana – Sinkgraven, Light, Sanchez, Veltman – Ziyech, Schone, Klaassen – Younes, Dolberg, Traore.
Manchester United
This is the only trophy which Manchester United does not possess. That is a huge motive for tonight. But even bigger one is the fact that they will secure their place in the Champions League if they win. After finishing outside the top 4 clubs in the English Premier League, Jose Mourinho and the rest of the Devil's, see this as their only chance to participate in the best European competition next year.
In 11 European finals so far, Manchester won on six occasions and lost five of them. The last time they played for a trophy was in 2011, when they were defeated by Barcelona 3-1 in the Champions League finals. The last time when they won, however, was in 2008, after the famous Moscow final, against Chelsea after penalties.
Manchester United: Starting Lineup
De Gea – Darmian, Blind, Jones, Valencia – Pogba, Herrera, Carrick – Mkhitaryan, Lingard, Rashford
Head to head
So far these two powerhouses met on 4 occasions, and they have two wins each.
1976 in the same competition Manchester United eliminated Ajax Amsterdam after losing an away match with 1-0, but they won with a greater margin at Old Trafford, 2-0.
In 2012 they repeated the same thing. Only this time they won in Amsterdam with 2-0 and lost at Old Trafford 1-2.
Injured And Suspended Players
Ajax
-Nick Viergever Out
-Daley Sinkgraven Out
Manchester United
-Marcos Rojo Out
-Zlatan Ibrahimovic Out
-Luke Shaw Out
-Ashley Young Out
-Eric Bailly Out
-Timothy Fosu-Mensah Out
-Chris Smalling oubtful
-Marouane Fellaini Doubtful
Top 3
Ajax
-Kasper Dolberg 29 games 16 goals 6 assists
-Davy Klaassen 33 games 14 goals 10 assists
-Hakim Ziyech 28 games 7 goals 12 assists
Manchester United
-Zlatan Ibrahimovic 28 games 17 goals 5 assists --- OUT
-Juan Mata 25 games 6 goals 3 assists
-Wayne Rooney 25 games 5 goals 5 assists
Prediction
This will be the clash between the offensive style of play which Ajax prefers, and the slow tactical game, a trademark by Jose Mourinho. The United has more injured players, but on the other hand, they have more experience. We think that the Red Devils are closer to victory and in our opinion, a moderate number of goals will be seen here. Between 2 and 3.
Final Outcome: Man Utd Win
Goals: Between 2 and 3
