Chelsea and Ajax trying to out underdog and youth one another

The buildup to Chelsea travelling to Ajax has primarily been about their respective young players. They are also both trying to claim the underdog mantle.

When Ajax and Chelsea were drawn together in the same Champions League group, the comparisons were inevitable. The Blues had been building up their academy for years but with the youth revolution in full swing, the parallels between the English and Dutch side became more pronounced.

Ajax made a deep and impressive run in last year’s Champions League on the back of their academy products and a young manager that made Ajax feel like Ajax again. That compares nicely to Chelsea finally bridging the academy to the first team with their own manager who has made Chelsea feel like Chelsea again.

In the buildup, fans and players from both teams seem to be jockeying for who is really the underdog in the match. Both teams will want it as they pursue top spot in the group.

Under normal circumstances of Chelsea being where they are traditionally and Ajax being where they usually are, this would be an easy one to declare a favorite on. But Ajax’s deep run in the competition last year has greatly shifted perceptions around them. No longer are they the side that might make the Round of 16; now they are a side that can go deep.

Chelsea for their part has been in and out of the Champions League but are the Europa League winners. Whereas that once meant very little, the latter stages of the competition do become a miniature Champions League. Chelsea, with their lack of transfers, may not be favorites but can definitely make a deep run with the right opponents in their way.

Ajax fans will recognize that they lost several important players over the summer that were crucial to their run last season. And while they managed to hang on to Erik ten Hag, there will certainly be the fear that their run last year was similar to Monaco’s a few years ago; a deep run on the back of young players coming together at the right time before being poached by Europe’s elite. Ajax goes in both as hosts and the group leaders, but because it is Chelsea there will be plenty of trepidation.

Chelsea, for their part, always wants to be treated like the underdogs. That has been the club’s happy place since Jose Mourinho’s first stint in charge. Injuries abound within the squad and the best players are all young and inexperienced. The side was unlucky as they fell to Valencia and just about got things done against Lille, but they will absolutely be treating Ajax as semifinalists and not just another Dutch team.

Both sides understand their similarities and with the group being so tight, they are very much interested in playing things safe against one another. The jockeying to be the underdog is to lure the other team into a false sense of security and open them up. Chelsea will want to win, but they will not jeopardize falling behind on it. Except a very tight, turgid affair as both teams toe around each other for fear of stepping to far out of their comfort zones.