'We always want to face the best' - Ajax boss happy to challenge Ronaldo

Ajax boss Erik ten Hag believes Juventus will ‘feel’ Giorgio Chiellini’s absence against his side on Wednesday.

Chiellini will miss the trip to Amsterdam with a calf injury, and Ten Hag urged his Ajax side to capitalise, having already thrashed Real Madrid and held Bayern Munich twice in the Champions League this season.

“Our focus is only on Juve,” he said at a Press conference.

“We’ll need to play with quality and do our best. We’re top of our League and we want to win the title, but tomorrow’s match is separate to that.

“It won’t be the same game as the one against Real Madrid, but we’ll face it with our style.

“We’re happy that Cristiano Ronaldo will be there because we always want to face the best players.

“The absence of Chiellini will be felt because he’s an important player for the Bianconeri. Allegri, however, has several players who can replace him.

“Juve are an experienced team who can implement different strategies. They’re another obstacle to overcome, so we’ll have to be good at reading the game in advance.

“We have a midfield that knows how to play football, which is crucial. They know how to keep the ball and when we don't have it, they can help us recover it as soon as possible.

“If this is done by all 10 [outfield] players and we find the right alchemy, we can get the results we want.

“Right now we’re so strong tactically that we can use players in different positions.”

The tie also marks the first time Ajax have reached the Champions League quarter-finals since 2003, when they lost 3-2 to Milan.

“A couple of years ago, Ajax found this way to get back to being the strong team that they are and also, above all, in Europe,” explained the Coach.

“We have a smaller budget than the others, that’s how football goes now. The Dutch League isn’t the best of all, so getting to the levels of the other teams is difficult.

“Our philosophy was to put experienced players alongside the younger ones to find balance, also on a European level.

“In De Jong and De Ligt we're talking about two extraordinary players, but I think all my lads are able to play at high levels.

“They have the potential to do that, but we’ll try to keep everyone because we want to have our say in Europe next season too.

“Tomorrow we’ll face Juventus, then we’ll see what happens. It’s important for Ajax to have returned to these levels in Europe, and it’s much more complicated to do if you’re from a small country like the Netherlands.

“Almost every year the same big teams go far, but it’s nice that there are these surprises and we’re happy to be one of them this season.”