Welcome to our live blog. Here you can read everything about the Eintracht Frankfurt – Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur – AZ in the eighth finals of the Europa League. The Amsterdammers must make a 2-1 loss good, while the Alkmaarders have to defend a 1-0 win.
Last: Eintracht Frankfurt-Ajax 4-1 (6-2)
Last: Tottenham Hotspur-AZ 3-1 (3-2)
Kristijan Belic comes in the team for Wouter Goes.
Mexx Meerdink! A good pass comes on the head of the substitute, but he heads very close.
Troy Parrott gets a mega kans after a good pass through the defense. The Irishman finds Tottenham goalkeeper on his way, in the rebound the deployment of Mees de Wit is taken off the line.
Mexx Meerdink has since come in for Seiya Maikuma. The Alkmaarders will play everything or not.
Tottenham again strikes hard. Dominic Solanke cuts the ball towards Wilson Odobert and taps inside. AZ now has to make a goal again to enforce an extension.
Kees Smit stands in for Zico Buurmeester. Smit asserted himself at Jong AZ last Friday with a hat trick and two assists. Can he show it today?
Smit immediately gets a big chance, but his shot is blocked by a defender.
Peer Koopmeiners poops the ball hard in the goal of Tottenham. Lucas Bergvall delivers the ball and Koopmeiners is hit.
The defender from Wormer gets a standing ovation at his switch. Micky van de Ven was injured for a long time and made his comeback last weekend.
That was again a good chance for AZ. Jordy Clasie is played from a corner of a corner from edge sixteen and he can play. His shot goes next to the goal …
Just before that, Micky van de Ven intervenes just in time with a sprint from Ernest Poku.
Tottenham is slowly doubling the margin in the second half. James Maddison shoots flawlessly after an assist from Heung-Min Son.
Can AZ still make a goal in the second half? The ball rolls again in London, where Sadiq has changed.
Now Zico Buurmeester has a free shooting opportunity. His commitment is slowly rolling along the goal.
Ibrahim Sadiq gets a good pass from Peer Koopmeiners, but ticks the ball just too far ahead. There had been more resident for the Alkmaarders.
Wouter Goes initially blocks a shot for Heung-Min Son and then Lucas Bergvall shoots the ball over the goal.
What a mistake in the defense of AZ. Wouter Goes shoots the ball against Heung-Min Son, after which Wilson Odobert can tap the ball into the goal. Tikkie for AZ.
AZ has hardly got into trouble visiting Tottenham Hotspur. The competition will continue in this phase.
AZ has not yet been able to create great opportunities in London. It has also received nothing against it, so it is still a quiet opening phase.
We are loose in London! AZ is still the only North Holland club in Europe.
It’s ready in Frankfurt. The B-team of Ajax is eliminated gloriously on a painful evening. Kenneth Taylor still scores an honorary goal, but otherwise it is primarily a breach of contract
The Brazilian goalkeeper recovers from such a moment, by making a good save on a shot by Ansgar Knauff. He seems to be injured and that would be bad news for Ajax. Remko Pasveer is already struggling with an injury. Matheus can continue.
All hope for Ajax was shot by Mario Götze. The former PSV player hurts the Amsterdammers again after a large blunder by goalkeeper Matheus.
What a chance for Ajax. A header from Oliver Edvardsen is taken off the line.
Kenneth Taylor scores for Ajax. A spark of hope returns to the Amsterdammers, but they still have to make four.
In the meantime, Jorrel Hato has also entered the team as a replacement for Dies Janse.
Lucas Rosa goes to the side and is being replaced by Anton Gaaei. It will probably make little difference.
It’s ready for Ajax. Pretty soon after the switches of Francesco Farioli it will be 3-0. Hugo Ekitiké is the maker of the goal.
Mika Godts, Bertrand Traoré and Kenneth Taylor come to Ajax. Jorthy Mokio and Don-Angelo Konadu and Steven Berghuis go to the side.
First Ajax gets a chance from a cross from Steven Berghuis. The header of Ahmetcan Kaplan misses the right direction. In the counterattack, Eintracht Frankfurt becomes dangerous, but Matheus can save.
Can Ajax get another result in Frankfurt or is it ready in 45 minutes? The second half is loose.
It is over with regard to the first half in Frankfurt. Ajax seems to be fast on his way to elimination in the Europa League due to the backlog against Eintracht.
Ajax gets two very big opportunities through Steven Berghuis. In both cases, the keeper of Eintracht Frankfurt is sharp.
Rasmus Kristensen has a flaming shot in the legs, but goalkeeper Matheus (who is allowed to participate after the REMKO Pasveer injury) ticks the ball out of the goal.
It is also quickly 2-0 in Frankfurt. Former PSV player Mario Götze is the maker of the second goal. It is now becoming a very difficult story for Ajax.
Steven Berghuis is completely free and can play. His shot sails over the bar. First sign of Ajax’s life.
Another big chance for Eintracht Frankfurt. The use of Hugo Ekitiké is barely blocked by Ahmetcan Kaplan. Ajax has a hard time in Frankfurt.
Ajax is already going wrong at lightning speed. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya simply finishes the ball and Ajax now has to make at least three goals.
We started in Frankfurt. Can Ajax brush the defeat in the first match?
There will soon be 1046 fans in the branch at Tottenham. That is in stark contrast with 91 supporters present in Istanbul. The supporters go from 6.45 pm in a Corteo (fan procession) towards the stadium.
AZ did not yet succeed in winning a competition on English soil. All nine previous encounters were lost:
Ipswich Town 2-0 AZ | 27-09-1978
Ipswich Town 3-0 AZ | 06-05-1981
Liverpool FC 3-2 AZ | 04-11-1981 | Goals: K. Kist and P. Thompson (Ed)
Newcastle United 4-2 AZ | 08-03-2007 | Goals: S. Arveladze and D. Koevermans
Arsenal FC 4-1 AZ | 04-11-2009 | Goal: J. Lens
Manchester United 4-0 AZ | 12-12-2019
West Ham United FC 2-1 AZ | 11-05-2023 | Goal: T. Reijnders
Aston Villa FC 2-1 AZ | 09-11-2023 | Goal: V. Pavlidis
Tottenham Hotspur FC 1-0 AZ | 24-10-2024 |
AZ players Troy Parrott and David Møller Wolfe have been called for their national team. With Parrott in the selection, Ireland plays against Bulgaria on 20 and 23 March. Møller Wolfe is on the Norway players who play against Moldova on March 22 and on March 25 the Norwegians will visit Israel.