Here is our low-down on the team who pioneered Total Football to the world...
Manager: Capped 112 times by Holland, Frank de Boer has been in charge of Ajax since 2010. A club legend with the Amsterdam side, he made more than 400 appearances during an 11-year stay before moving to Barcelona in 1999. He spent four years at the Camp Nou before he moved to Galatasaray and had a short spell with Glasgow Rangers. Ajax is his first management role.
Euro Pedigree: Ajax won the European Cup for three successive seasons between 1971 and 1973 with a team that featured the great Johan Cruyff. They won the Champions League for the first time in 1995 but have failed to make any great headway in recent years and haven’t progressed past the group stages for the past two years,
Star man: Christian Poulsen joined Ajax during the summer and will hope to make the Eredivisie side the last port of call in his impressive career. Now 32, Poulsen has played for top clubs in Germany, Spain, Italy and England and won 92 caps for Denmark.
Stadium: The Ajax Arena in Amsterdam has a 52,314 capacity. Completed in 1996 at a cost of £130m, it staged the 1998 Champions League final and will host the 2013 Europa League final next May.
Our Official Travel Partner, Thomas Cook Sport, is offering trips to follow the team in the UEFA Champions League. More information here:
