Míchel Sánchez named Ajax’s line-up for the home game against sc Heerenveen with Daley Blind unavailable, Mika Godts gone and Julian Brandt on the bench. The selection was set before kickoff at 4.45pm at the Johan Cruyff ArenA, forcing Ajax to adjust the shape of the side around the absences.
Blind had picked up physical complaints in midweek against Shelbourne FC and was not involved, while Godts completed his move to Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday. That left Ajax without two players who had been part of the recent picture, and it pushed Sánchez to keep Brandt out of the starting midfield despite the need to reshape the team.
Caio Henrique stayed in his usual left-back spot after also starting last week against PEC Zwolle, with Aaron Bouwman partnering Youri Baas in the centre of defence and Lucas Rosa at right-back. Sánchez chose Youri Regeer, Davy Klaassen and Oscar Gloukh in midfield, then turned to Steven Berghuis, Kasper Dolberg and Abdellah Ouazane for the threat in Amsterdam.
The line-up underlined how quickly Ajax had to move from one match to the next. Blind’s absence was a direct consequence of the midweek issue, Godts was already gone, and Brandt and Jorthy Mokio were left out of midfield anyway, so the team that walked out in Amsterdam was built from the players still available rather than from the most obvious names.
Ajax’s starting XI was Ter Stegen; Rosa, Bouwman, Baas, Caio Henrique; Regeer, Gloukh, Klaassen; Berghuis, Dolberg, Ouazane. What happens next is simple and immediate: Ajax have to make that selection work against sc Heerenveen, with the game itself now the only test that matters.
