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Key events
9 min: Carter wins a free kick on halfway and she takes it herself, it’s a long ball but it doesn’t reach Charles.
7 min: So close to an opener from Grant, wow. She rifles a shot off, it goes beyond Hampton but it smacks the post!
7 min: Buchanan is fouled in the midfield, she wins a free kick and remains on the ground. She doesn’t need any medical attention though and so we play on. Chelsea take the free kick short but they are eventually dispossessed. Ajax counter but Perisset, who had a great match against Arsenal last Friday, does well to shut down the chance.
5 min: It’s a good delivery but a Chelsea player can’t connect, Kaneryd does well to recover the ball but then some excellent Ajax defence dispossesses her. They try to clear but Chelsea quickly get back in control, James crosses but Nusken doesn’t get a clean touch.
3 min: A slow start from both teams so far, no clear cut chance as of yet but Charles has now won a corner.
Kick-off! Ajax 0-0 Chelsea
Here we go then. Can Chelsea live up to the favourites tag? Or will Ajax cause a shock? All to come.
There is a stunning light show in Amsterdam, the party atmosphere is here so all we need now is some exciting football. That will come in under five minutes time, we hope.
The players will be out shortly before the first quarter-final gets underway. Ajax will be fancying their chances at home, they will want to clock a good results before they play the reverse fixture on 27 March.
A recap of how Chelsea responded to being drawn against Ajax back in February:
Macario starts from the bench for Chelsea today. If she is called upon it will be her first appearance in the Women’s Champions League since May 2022. She has been a super sub for the Blues since recovering from her ACL injury.
Also get your predictions in. Ajax could cause an upset but Chelsea are favourites. I think Chelsea will slightly edge it but the hosts will give them a run for their money.
A good piece to sink your teeth into ahead of this one:
I would love to hear your ‘I was today years old when I found out’ moments. I recently found out a raisin is a dried grape which blew my mind! Get in touch via X (@rendellx) or by email.
The team news is here.
Ajax:
Chelsea: Hampton, Perisset, Carter, Buchanan, Charles, Nusken, Leupolz, Cuthbert, Kaneryd, James, Reiten
Preamble
Hello and welcome back to the Women’s Champions League. Today we are bringing you live coverage from Ajax v Chelsea in the quarter-finals.
It is the first of the quarters and the European action gets back underway. Chelsea will be favourites heading into the match despite their injury list at the moment. Sam Kerr, Millie Bright and Mayra Ramirez are among the stars not able to feature in this fixture.
Chelsea may be favourites but Ajax are more than capable of creating an upset. Among their impressive group results was a 1-0 win against Bayern Munich back in December.
We will run through what each club has said in the build-up to the knock-out match shortly. But first let’s take a look at team news …
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