Ajax head to Denmark on Thursday night for Matchday 3 of the UEFA Conference League, carrying the lift of a 2-0 win over Atalanta and the burden of a campaign that still needs shaping. FC Midtjylland are the next test, and the trip comes with Ajax trying to turn a rebuilding season into something far more ambitious.
The timing matters because Ajax need points, not just momentum. Their opening defeat to Hajduk Split left them chasing the group, and the win over Atalanta only pulled them back into position. In this format, one point from the first two matches would leave a side needing to make up ground quickly, which is why this trip to Denmark feels more urgent than a routine group fixture.
Ajax have reasons to believe they can do it. Paul Winters said the club may have a tangible chance of winning its first European trophy in 30 years, and he pointed to a squad that is still being assembled almost player by player. He said most of the group have been in Amsterdam for only a year at most, even if Ajax still have names such as Julian Brandt, Marc ter Stegen and Tolu Arokodare. Winters also said Brandt is too good for the Eredivisie to stay long, while Ter Stegen is only on loan.
The recent record also leans Ajax’s way. They beat FC Midtjylland in both meetings during the 2020/21 European campaign, and that history now feeds into a fresh contest with more on the line for both sides. Midtjylland come in two points clear at the top of the Danish Superliga, but their European start has been flat, with one point from two matches after a 1-1 draw with Egnatia and a 2-1 loss to Sint-Truiden.
That split form is what makes the match awkward to read. Ajax are arriving with four successive wins after the setback in Croatia, but they are still a work in progress after a chaotic 2025-26 season that ended with a 5th-place finish in the Eredivisie and a 32nd-place finish in the Champions League league phase. Winters said coach Michel Sanchez has largely adapted well to opponents, yet he also said Ajax do not play in the classic Ajax style and leave space at the back when they have the ball. That makes them dangerous, but it also leaves room for mistakes.
So Thursday night is not just another European outing. It is a test of whether Ajax’s rebound is real enough to survive away from Amsterdam, and whether a club trying to rebuild can keep the door open to a serious run in a competition that now looks like one of its clearest routes back to continental relevance.
