While Yang Yang led Real Madrid into battle in La Liga, Ajax, far away in Amsterdam, were also racing to prepare for the second half of the Eredivisie season. Van Gaal and Van der Sar had set the team the target of holding on to a top-two league finish.
That would not be easy.
Eighteen rounds of the Eredivisie had been played before the winter break. Ajax trailed leaders Eindhoven by five points and were only three points ahead of third-placed Alkmaar. Given Ajax's inconsistent performances, overtaking Eindhoven would be no easy task, but with Alkmaar and Feyenoord eyeing them from behind, they could not afford to be careless.
Ajax's biggest advantage was their fixture list. They had been knocked out of both the Champions League and the Europa League, and even the Dutch Cup, leaving them with only the Eredivisie to play in.
One competition, one match a week—that was good news for Ajax.
During their winter training camp, Brazilian left-back Jorge Costa, who had shone in the first half of the season, injured his knee in a collision during training. He was expected to miss one to two months, catching everyone at Ajax somewhat off guard.
One major reason the team had fought their way back up to second in the table during the first half of the season was their attacking play down the left. Jorge Costa's runs from full-back brought Frenkie de Jong and Neres ahead of him into play, while Jović's threat through the middle helped bring Ajax's attack fully to life.
With Jorge Costa injured, Ajax had lost a vital weapon on the left, while their attacks down the right depended more heavily on Ziyech. It checked the impressive momentum they had built up during the first half of the season.
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