During the 2018–19 season, Ajax participated in the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup and the UEFA Champions League. With winning both the competition and the cup, it meant the first double won since the 2001–02 season. In the Champions League, they knocked-out defending champions Real Madrid in the round of 16. After beating Juventus in the quarter-final, they reached a Champions League semi-final for the first time since 1997. Ajax were seconds away from reaching the final, until a last-minute goal sent Tottenham Hotspur to the final on away goals.
On an individual level, Dušan Tadić was the biggest surprise; signed from Southampton in June 2018 for just €11.4 million, the 30-year old unexpectedly became the club's leading goalscorer with a total of 38, including 9 goals in the Champions League. He doubled his personal season record for scoring, as well as earned the right to be the team's captain for the next season.
Player statistics 4–2–3–1 formation, known as the "Tadic-variant", as used in the successful Champions League campaign where they reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1997 after beating European giants Real Madrid and Juventus.
Appearances for competitive matches only
|colspan="14"|Players sold or loaned out after the start of the season:
As of 15 May 2019
Team statistics 2018–19 selection by nationality Nationality Total Players Current squad selection93321111111-------25 Youth/reserves squad in AFC Ajax selection1421-11-----12111--24 Players out on loan3------1--------217
Eredivisie standings 2018–19 Current standingMatches playedWinsDrawsLossesPointsGoals forGoals againstYellow cardsRed cards 1 34 28 2 4 86 119 32 35 2
Match day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Total Points by match day 1 3 3 3 3 0 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 0 3 0 3 3 3 3 0 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 86 Total points by match day 1 4 7 10 13 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 47 47 50 50 53 56 59 62 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 86 Standing by match day 10 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Goals by match day 1 1 5 4 3 0 2 5 4 3 2 7 3 5 4 8 3 4 2 6 0 5 5 4 2 0 3 5 4 6 1 4 4 4 119 Goals against per match day 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 4 6 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 2 0 2 1 1 32 Total goal difference per match day ±0 +1 +6 +10 +13 +10 +12 +17 +21 +24 +26 +32 +35 +39 +42 +50 +52 +52 +48 +54 +53 +58 +62 +66 +67 +66 +68 +71 +74 +78 +79 +81 +84 +87 +87
Topscorers Eredivisie Nr. Name 1. Dušan Tadić 28 2. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 16 Hakim Ziyech 16 4. Kasper Dolberg 11 5. Donny van de Beek 9 6. David Neres 8 7. Daley Blind 5 Lasse Schöne 5 9. Frenkie de Jong 3 Matthijs de Ligt 3 11. Nicolás Tagliafico 2 12. Zakaria Labyad 1 Noussair Mazraoui 1 Joël Veltman 1 Own goal Pelle van Amersfoort (Heerenveen) 1 Glenn Bijl (Emmen) 1 Justin Bijlow (Feyenoord) 1 Freek Heerkens (Willem II) 1 Gervane Kastaneer (NAC Breda) 1 Jethro Mashart (NAC Breda) 1 Erik Palmer-Brown (NAC Breda) 1 Ricardo van Rhijn (AZ Alkmaar) 1 Daniel Schwaab (PSV Eindhoven) 1 Total 119
KNVB Cup Nr. Name 1. Donny van de Beek 4 2. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 3 Zakaria Labyad 3 4. Daley Blind 1 Kasper Dolberg 1 Jurgen Ekkelenkamp 1 Ryan Gravenberch 1 Rasmus Kristensen 1 Matthijs de Ligt 1 Noussair Mazraoui 1 David Neres 1 Perr Schuurs 1 Dušan Tadić 1 Nicolás Tagliafico 1 Total 21
UEFA Champions League Nr. Name 1. Dušan Tadić 9 2. Hakim Ziyech 5 3. Donny van de Beek 4 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 4 5. Matthijs de Ligt 3 David Neres 3 Nicolás Tagliafico 3 8. Noussair Mazraoui 2 Lasse Schöne 2 Total 35
Competitions Overview
Eredivisie
League table
Matches
KNVB Cup
UEFA Champions League
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
Group stage
Knockout phase
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Friendlies
Transfers for 2018–19 For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the summer window (1 July 2018 to 31 August 2018) please see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2018. For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the winter window (1 January 2019 to 1 February 2019) please see List of Dutch football transfers winter 2018–19.
Arrivals The following players moved to AFC Ajax. NamePositionPeriodPrevious clubFeeTransfer Hassane BandéForwardSummer Mechelen€8,250,000 Zakaria LabyadMidfielderSummer Utrecht€7,000,000 Dušan TadićMidfielderSummer Southampton€11,400,000 Daley BlindDefenderSummer Manchester United€16,000,000 Lisandro MagallánDefenderWinter Boca Juniors€9,000,000Free Transfer Lassina TraoréForwardWinter Ajax Cape Town-Loan Bruno VarelaGoalkeeperWinter Benfica-Return from loan spell Leeroy OwusuDefenderSummer Almere City- Perr SchuursDefenderSummer Fortuna Sittard- Zakaria El AzzouziForwardSummer Excelsior- Mateo CassierraForwardWinter Groningen-
Departures The following players moved from AFC Ajax. NamePositionPeriodNew clubFeeTransfer Leeroy OwusuDefenderSummer De Graafschap? Darren SidoelDefenderSummer Reading? Danilho DoekhiDefenderSummer Vitesse? Zian FlemmingMidfielderSummer PEC Zwolle? Justin KluivertForwardSummer Roma€22,750,000 Maximilian WöberDefenderWinter Sevilla€11,000,000 Saku YlätupaForwardWinter AIK Fotboll?Free Transfer Norbert AlblasGoalkeeperSummer N.E.C.- Peter LeeuwenburghGoalkeeperSummer Cape Town City- Léon BergsmaDefenderSummer AZ- Mitchell DijksDefenderSummer Bologna- Danilho DoekhiDefenderSummer Vitesse- Ki-Jana HoeverDefenderSummer Liverpool- Terry Lartey SanniezDefenderSummer N.E.C.- Mauro SavastanoDefenderSummer AZ- Nick ViergeverDefenderSummer PSV- Deyovaisio ZeefuikDefenderSummer Groningen- Reda BoultamMidfielderSummer Cremonese- Denilho CleoniseMidfielderSummer Genoa- Ricardo FarcaşMidfielderSummer SPAL- Vince Gino DekkerForwardSummer AZ- Mees de WitForwardSummer Sporting CP- Amin YounesForwardSummer Napoli- Zakaria El AzzouziForwardWinter Emmen- Szabolcs SchönForwardWinter MTK Budapest-Out on loan Benjamin van LeerGoalkeeperSummer NAC Breda- Robin SchoutenDefenderSummer Volendam- Siem de JongMidfielderSummer Sydney FC- Mateo CassierraForwardSummer Groningen- Luis Manuel OrejuelaDefenderWinter Cruzeiro- Azor MatusiwaMidfielderWinter De Graafschap- Kaj SierhuisForwardWinter Groningen- Dennis JohnsenForwardWinter Heerenveen- Mateo CassierraForwardWinter Racing Club-
References