Ajax, the success story of the Champions League this season

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Despite their European Cup pedigree, the Dutch side’s lack of financial muscle make them the outliers of the final four

When Tottenham and Ajax kick off in the Champions League on Tuesday, Spurs will be playing in their first semi-final in the competition. Ajax have won the European Cup or Champions League four times. But statistically speaking, Ajax are the great success story of this stage of the tournament. The numbers are stacked against them in almost every way.

On paper, Ajax simply don’t have the same quality as their opponents – or that of Barcelona or Liverpool. Based on their Elo ranking – which calculates a team’s quality based on number of victories, margin of victory, quality of opponent and home or away advantage – Ajax are by far the weakest team of the four semi-finalists (Barcelona and Liverpool play in the other tie).

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/datablog/2019/apr/30/ajax-the-success-story-of-the-champions-league-this-season

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