Despite losing their manager Erik ten Hagand a host of key players including Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Sebastien Haller over the summer, Ajax have made an impressive start to the new campaign, winning each of their opening five Eredivisie matches.
New recruit Steven Bergwijn scored a brace to help the Dutch outfit secure a comfortable 4-0 home victory over Cambuur last weekend, with Devyne Rensch and Mohammed Kudus also on the scoresheet.
Ajax are rarely tested on the domestic front, but Alfred Schreuder’s side are set to face sterner competition in Group A of the Champions League, with fixtures home and away against Rangers, Liverpool and Napoli to come within the next three months.
The three-time European Cup winners head into Wednesday’s contest having won all four of their previous competitive meetings with Rangers, including both group-stage encounters in the 1996-97 Champions League.
Ajax, who won all six of their group-stage games in last season’s competition, will be keen to make a strong start this term as they bid to progress to the knockout rounds for the third time in five years.
For the first time in 12 years, Rangers will be competing in the Champions League group stage, after beating Union SG and PSV Eindhoven over two legs in the qualification rounds.
While there is plenty of excitement in returning to Europe’s elite club competition, morale within the Ibrox camp was dealt a blow last weekend after they suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in the Old Firm derby away at rivals Celtic.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst stated that he and his side need to reflect on their “very disappointing” performance at Parkhead, but they have little time to put things right on the training pitch as a busy schedule of four games in 11 days is on the horizon.
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Last season’s Europa League finalists head to Amsterdam having won each of their previous two visits to the Netherlands, including the slender 1-0 second-leg triumph over PSV in the playoff round last month.
Van Bronckhorst – a 2010 World Cup runner-up with 106 caps as a player for the Netherlands – will be returning to familiar territory on Wednesday, although his managerial record against Ajax leaves a little to be desired, having won only two of his previous 10 meetings against them during his time in charge of Feyenoord.
Rangers have advanced from the group stage in just one of their 10 previous participations in the Champions League – doing so in the 2005-06 season – and a victory in midweek would boost their chances of progressing to the knockout rounds this term.
