UEFA Champions League 2018-19: 5 reasons why Ajax could still win their tie at Santiago Bernabeu

#3 Real Madrid's press resistance is poor

Ajax had Madrid cornered only due to their intensive pressing game. The Los Blancos have to improve on their press resistance.

Even though Madrid seem to be well back on track under Santiago Solari, that isn't necessarily the case when it comes to the press. The team was not in their best run of form and they had dropped points in quick succession, to Sociedad and Villarreal.

What they have improved from those games is their pressing game. Against Sevilla particularly we saw an immense amount of pressing from Madrid.

But when it came against Real Betis, Madrid again had no solution so Solari went back to damage limitation and dug out the result. Ajax just exposed what high intense press can do to Madrid.

The Los Blancos were only weathering the storm and holding their ground in the first half. Their best midfield trio were suffocated for space and time. Ajax also managed to create a stunning number of opportunities through Madrid's midfield and defence.

A lack of press resistance is not a reason to boost winning chances directly. But looking at it indirectly, Ajax managed to press out even Kroos, Casemiro and Modric for space. Their passing networks easily managed to bypass Madrid's press instead.

The whole game for Madrid's midfielders was dispossessions, bad touches, and poor passing efficiency. Modric himself could complete only 50 passes, Kroos 60. Casemiro's pass percentage was just 81. He was dispossessed 4 times, Modric was dispossessed twice. Modric had no dribbles, Kross had 1, Casemiro had 1.

Now if the best midfield trio of Madrid struggled this much due to Ajax's press, what will happen if you play Ceballos or Marco Llorente instead? Madrid has never faced a side who presses this hard after the Eibar game, neither do their youngsters have an idea of how intense the press from Ajax is. The game could come down to this one criterion surely, it can.