Big Match Feature: Ajax v Barca

Form guide (all competitions)

Ajax: WWWLDD

Barcelona: LLWWWL

Ajax coach Frank de Boer expects "an emotional" return for Barcelona's Luis Suárez on a night when the visitors could go through and the hosts face elimination.

Barcelona will qualify for the last 16 if they win and Apoel fail to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the section's other game.

Ajax, meanwhile, need at least a point to retain any real hope of qualifying; a defeat could well leave them eliminated.

Match background

Ajax

Third-placed Ajax are still winless in Group F after their 3-1 defeat at Barcelona last time out.

Including their 1-1 draw with Paris on matchday one, Ajax are on a four-match unbeaten run at home in the Uefa Champions League (W2, D2).

Ajax ended a run of four consecutive home losses to Spanish teams when beating Barcelona last season. Their home record against Spanish opposition is W9 D3 L5.

Barcelona

Beaten 3-2 in Paris on matchday two, Barcelona have lost five and won just two of their last nine Uefa Champions League away games.

Their last victory on Dutch soil came in the 1995/96 Uefa Cup quarterfinals, a 3-2 win at PSV Eindhoven that secured a 5-4 aggregate triumph.

The Blaugrana's overall record away to Dutch clubs is W2 D3 L2.

Barcelona lifted the 1996/97 Uefa Cup Winners' Cup after a 1-0 victory over Paris at De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam. At the same venue, they had lost the 1990/91 final 2-1 to Manchester United FC.

Previous meetings

The clubs met for the first time in last season's group stage, Barcelona winning 4-0 at Camp Nou, where Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick.

Ajax responded with a 2-1 victory in Amsterdam which ended a run of nine straight defeats against Spanish clubs.

The line-ups for that latter encounter on 26 November 2013 were:

Ajax: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Veltman, Moisander, Boilesen (Poulsen 34), Klaassen, Blind, Serero, Schöne (Denswil 51), Hoesen (Duarte 84), Fischer.

Barcelona: Pinto, Puyol (Gabarron 82), Mascherano, Piqué, Montoya, Song, Xavi (Sergi Roberto 74), Iniesta, Pedro, Fàbregas (Traoré 82), Neymar.

Match facts

Ajax

Joël Veltman will incur a suspension with his next booking.

Richairo Zivkovic, having come on as a halftime substitute, marked his Ajax debut with the final goal as De Boer's men won 4-0 at amateur side SV Urk on 28 October in the Dutch Cup round of 32.

Riechedly Bazoer also made his debut against Urk. Having scored six in the previous round, Arkadiusz Milik was on target twice before the break.

A double on Saturday from Lasse Schöne set Ajax en route to their second successive 4-0 victory, against ten-man Dordrecht 90. Ajax have scored 11 goals in winning their three games since matchday three.

Viktor Fischer (out since 23 February, hamstring) remains sidelined. Thulani Serero, having not played since 18 October, made his return from a hamstring injury against Dordrecht.

Jairo Riedewald made his first Uefa Champions League appearance on matchday three and in the process became the club's first debutant in the competition to have been born after Ajax's 1995 European Cup win.

Barcelona

Barça conceded their first Liga goals of the season as they lost 3-1 to Madrid on 25 October. Including the final game of last term, the Azulgrana's defence had not been breached in 795 minutes prior to Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half penalty.

Making his competitive debut for Barcelona, Suárez provided the assist for Neymar to open the scoring.

Barcelona were beaten 1-0 at home on Saturday by the club Luis Enrique coached last season, RC Celta de Vigo. The Camp Nou side, who struck the crossbar four times, had not lost back-to-back Liga games since May 2009.

Messi has scored 250 Liga goals, one shy of Telmo Zarra's record.

His strike on matchday three was his 69th in the Uefa Champions League, two behind Raúl González's competition best.

Jérémy Mathieu picked up a calf injury against Celta and is likely to be out for up to three weeks. Iniesta is a doubt to face Ajax after sustaining a calf injury in the Clásico.

Douglas (foot) has not played since he made his Blaugrana debut against Málaga CF on 24 September.

Vermaelen has yet to make his first appearance for the club due to a hamstring injury he sustained at the Fifa World Cup.

Iniesta, Javier Mascherano and Messi are in the running for the 2014 Fifa Ballon d'Or. A three-man shortlist will be announced on 1 December, with the winner revealed on 12 January in Zurich.

Frank de Boer, Ajax coach

You have to make a match of it – not like last time, where in the first half we didn't create a single good attack. If you want to create something against an opponent like Barcelona you need the ball. You have to show respect but that doesn't mean you need to be scared.

I think it will be an emotional occasion for Luis Suárez to come back and play his first Champions League match back here at the Arena.

My players shouldn't be afraid to play against Messi, Suárez or Neymar. Our defence played quite well in the last match against Barcelona and marked them well but of course you know that if they get one opportunity, they have so much quality that they can finish.

Just look at us. The average age of their team is about 28 whereas ours is about 22 and they have to learn a lot still. If Barcelona have a very good day and we have a bad one, the gap in quality will be very large.

When you lose two matches in a row, there is some pressure and people start to complain, so they want to get a result now and get into their flow again. So they will surely be motivated.

Luis Enrique, Barcelona coach

I expect Ajax to be very brave, with a lot of desire and putting on pressure like in the first match. I saw the match last year [where Ajax won 2-1 at home to Barcelona] but every year is different and there are new players. We will challenge Ajax in a different way.

I always feel pressure at this club, that's normal. It's very important to win tomorrow and qualify for the next round. The players are very calm despite the two [Liga] losses. We will put pressure on our opponents tomorrow, that's how we will play.

I don't want to change the style of Barcelona, it's my playing style and even though results are the most important thing I maintain my own playing style and will continue to work to improve my players. I feel great, we analyse everything and we show the players what went wrong and what needs to improve and that's what we're working on.

The playing style has proven to be successful here at the club and I will hold onto that.

Coach and player links

Luis Enrique and Frank de Boer were Barcelona teammates from 1999 to 2003. In those four years, De Boer made 144 Liga appearances and won the Spanish title in 1999.

The pair had previously played against each other when Luis Enrique's Real Madrid CF lost 1-0 at De Boer's Ajax in a Uefa Champions League group stage match in September 1995. De Boer missed the return in Spain when Luis Enrique's Madrid lost again (0-2).

De Boer scored twice against Spain as a Netherlands player, hitting winning goals in a 2-1 friendly victory in November 2000 and another friendly success (1-0) in March 2002.

De Boer was assistant coach of the Netherlands team beaten 1-0 in the 2010 Fifa World Cup final by a goal from Spain's Andrés Iniesta.

A Dutch Cup winner in 2010, Suárez made 110 Eredivisie appearances for Ajax (2007–11) and scored 81 goals. His record in the Uefa Champions League for Ajax, qualifiers included, was 11 appearances and five goals.

Jasper Cillessen was in goal for the Netherlands side that brushed aside Spain 5-1 in their opening match at the 2014 World Cup on 13 June. Jordi Alba, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández and Iniesta started for Spain; Pedro Rodríguez appeared as a substitute.

Cillessen and Claudio Bravo were in opposing goals when the Dutch beat Chile 2-0 in their final group match in Brazil.

Thomas Vermaelen played for Ajax from 2003 to 2009 (98 league appearances), winning the Eredivisie and two Dutch Cups as well as captaining the club.

Niklas Moisander captained Finland in two 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Spain – a 1-1 draw in Gijon in March 2013 and a 2-0 home loss six months later in which Alba scored.

Danny Hoesen was in the Netherlands side beaten 3-0 by Spain in the group stage of the 2013 Uefa European Under-21 Championship. Martín Montoya, Marc Bartra and Cristian Tello watched from the Spain bench.

Possible line-ups

Ajax: Cillessen; Van Rhijn, Veltman, Moisander, Boilesen; Klaassen, Serero, Riedewald; Schöne, Sigthórsson, El Ghazi.

Out: Fischer (hamstring)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alves, Mascherano, Piqué, Adriano/Alda; Busquets, Rakitic, Xavi; Luis Suárez, Messi, Neymar.

Out: Iniesta (calf), Mathieu (calf), Sergio Roberto (adductor), Vermaelen (match fitness)

Doubtful: Jordi Alba (unknown)