# 2020–21 AFC Ajax season

The 2020–21 season was Ajax's 121st season in existence and the club's 65th consecutive season in the Eredivisie. In addition to the domestic league, Ajax participated in this season's edition of the KNVB Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

## Squad

    As of 1 February 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | NED | Maarten Stekelenburg |
| 2 | DF | NED | Jurriën Timber |
| 3 | DF | NED | Perr Schuurs |
| 4 | DF | MEX | Edson Álvarez |
| 5 | DF | SUR | Sean Klaiber |
| 6 | MF | NED | Davy Klaassen |
| 7 | FW | BRA | David Neres |
| 8 | MF | NED | Ryan Gravenberch |
| 9 | FW | MAR | Oussama Idrissi |
| 10 | MF | SRB | Dušan Tadić (captain) |
| 12 | DF | MAR | Noussair Mazraoui |
| 16 | GK | NED | Kjell Scherpen |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | DF | NED | Daley Blind (vice-captain) |
| 18 | MF | NED | Jurgen Ekkelenkamp |
| 19 | MF | MAR | Zakaria Labyad |
| 20 | MF | GHA | Mohammed Kudus |
| 21 | DF | ARG | Lisandro Martínez |
| 22 | FW | CIV | Sébastien Haller |
| 23 | FW | BFA | Lassina Traoré |
| 24 | GK | CMR | André Onana |
| 31 | DF | ARG | Nicolás Tagliafico |
| 33 | GK | CRO | Dominik Kotarski |
| 39 | FW | BRA | Antony |

## Transfers

For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the summer window (1 July 2020 to 31 August 2020) please see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2020. For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the winter window (1 January 2021 to 1 February 2021) please see List of Dutch football transfers winter 2020–21.

### Transfers in

| Date | Pos. | Name | Transferred from | Fee |
| 1 July 2020 | FW | Antony | São Paulo | €15,750,000 |
| 1 July 2020 | DF | Lisandro Magallán | Alavés | Loan return |
| 1 July 2020 | FW | Noa Lang | FC Twente | Loan return |
| 1 July 2020 | DF | Sven Botman | SC Heerenveen | Loan return |
| 1 July 2020 | FW | Dennis Johnsen | PEC Zwolle | Loan return |
| 16 July 2020 | FW | Mohammed Kudus | Nordsjælland | €9,000,000 |
| 1 August 2020 | GK | Maarten Stekelenburg | Everton | Free transfer |
| 14 August 2020 | FW | Jeppe Kjær | AC Horsens | €2,000,000 |
| 1 October 2020 | DF | Sean Klaiber | FC Utrecht | €5,000,000 |
| 5 October 2020 | MF | Davy Klaassen | Werder Bremen | €11,000,000 |
| 5 October 2020 | FW | Hassane Bandé | FC Thun | Loan return |
| 8 January 2021 | FW | Sébastien Haller | West Ham United | €22,500,000 |
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €21,750,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €7,000,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €14,000,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.

### Transfers out

| Date | Pos. | Name | Transferred to | Fee |
| 1 July 2020 | MF | Hakim Ziyech | Chelsea | €40,000,000 |
| 1 July 2020 | GK | Benjamin van Leer | Sparta Rotterdam | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2020 | GK | Bruno Varela | Benfica | End of loan |
| 1 July 2020 | FW | Ryan Babel | Galatasaray | End of loan |
| 14 July 2020 | FW | Nicolas Kühn | Bayern Munich | Undisclosed |
| 15 July 2020 | MF | Jasper ter Heide | SC Cambuur | Undisclosed |
| 17 July 2020 | DF | Boy Kemper | ADO Den Haag | Undisclosed |
| 29 July 2020 | DF | Joël Veltman | Brighton & Hove Albion | €1,000,000 |
| 31 July 2020 | DF | Sven Botman | Lille OSC | €8,000,000 |
| 25 August 2020 | FW | Dennis Johnsen | Venezia | Undisclosed |
| 2 September 2020 | MF | Donny van de Beek | Manchester United | €39,000,000 |
| 1 October 2020 | DF | Sergiño Dest | Barcelona | €21,230,000 |
| 19 January 2021 | FW | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | FC Schalke 04 | Free transfer |
| 24 February 2021 | FW | Quincy Promes | Spartak Moscow | €8,500,000 |
* 1 2 Fee may eventually rise to €44,000,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €26,230,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €11,000,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.

### Loans in

| Start date | Pos. | Name | To | End date | Fee | Ref. |
| 1 February 2021 | FW | Oussama Idrissi | Sevilla | 30 June 2021 | Undisclosed | |

### Loans out

| Start date | Pos. | Name | To | End date | Fee |
| 16 July 2020 | DF | Kik Pierie | FC Twente | 30 June 2021 | Undisclosed |
| 14 August 2020 | FW | Danilo | FC Twente | 30 June 2021 | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2020 | MF | Răzvan Marin | Cagliari | 30 June 2021 | Undisclosed |
| 3 September 2020 | DF | Lisandro Magallán | Crotone | 30 June 2021 | Undisclosed |
| 19 September 2020 | MF | Carel Eiting | Huddersfield Town | 30 June 2021 | Undisclosed |
| 5 October 2020 | MF | Noa Lang | Club Brugge | 30 June 2021 | Undisclosed |
| 9 February 2021 | FW | Hassane Bandé | NK Istra 1961 | 30 June 2022 | Undisclosed |
* ↑ Cagliari has the compulsory option to convert the loan in a permanent transfer for €10,000,000.
* ↑ The loan agreement includes a take-over option for Crotone of €8,500,000.
* ↑ Club Brugge has the compulsory option to convert the loan in a permanent transfer for €6,000,000.
* ↑ The loan agreement includes a take-over option for NK Istra 1961.

### Transfer summary

Undisclosed fees are not included in the transfer totals.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Eredivisie | 13 September 2020 | 16 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 34 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 102 | 23 | +79 | 082.35 |
| KNVB Cup | 16 December 2020 | 18 April 2021 | Second round | Winners | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 100.00 |
| Champions League | 21 October 2020 | 9 December 2020 | Group stage | Group stage | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 7 | +0 | 033.33 |
| Europa League | 18 February 2021 | 15 April 2021 | Round of 32 | Quarter-finals | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 066.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 51 | 39 | 6 | 6 | 133 | 41 | +92 | 076.47 |
Last updated: 16 May 2021 Source: Competitions

### Eredivisie
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Ajax (C) | 34 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 102 | 23 | +79 | 88 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | PSV Eindhoven | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 74 | 35 | +39 | 72 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | AZ | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 75 | 41 | +34 | 71 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Vitesse | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 61 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Feyenoord (O) | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 64 | 36 | +28 | 59 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
* ↑ Winner of play-off will qualify to Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 16 May 2021. Source: Eredivisie

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W |
| Position | 7 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 1 October 2020.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LIV | ATA | AJX | MID |
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Atalanta | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase | 0–5 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Ajax | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | Transfer to Europa League | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Midtjylland | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 2 | | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | — |

### UEFA Europa League
#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 32

The round of 32 draw was held on 14 December 2020.

##### Round of 16

The round of 16 draw was held on 26 February 2021.

##### Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 19 March 2021.

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup | Champions League Europa League | Champions League Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | NED | Maarten Stekelenburg | 21 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | NED | Jurriën Timber | 30 | 1 | 16+4 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | NED | Perr Schuurs | 41 | 1 | 20+7 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | MEX | Edson Álvarez | 39 | 2 | 18+6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7+3 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | SUR | Sean Klaiber | 22 | 0 | 6+9 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | NED | Davy Klaassen | 46 | 16 | 27+2 | 12 | 4+1 | 1 | 11+1 | 3 |
| 7 | FW | BRA | David Neres | 39 | 8 | 10+15 | 3 | 1+3 | 2 | 10 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | NED | Ryan Gravenberch | 47 | 5 | 31+1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | MAR | Oussama Idrissi | 14 | 0 | 1+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | SRB | Dušan Tadić | 51 | 22 | 31+3 | 14 | 4+1 | 3 | 12 | 5 |
| 12 | DF | MAR | Noussair Mazraoui | 26 | 1 | 16+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | NED | Devyne Rensch | 27 | 3 | 12+6 | 3 | 3+1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 16 | GK | NED | Kjell Scherpen | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | NED | Daley Blind | 34 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | NED | Jurgen Ekkelenkamp | 23 | 3 | 4+11 | 3 | 1+3 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | MAR | Zakaria Labyad | 28 | 8 | 12+9 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2+3 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | GHA | Mohammed Kudus | 22 | 4 | 8+9 | 4 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | ARG | Lisandro Martínez | 41 | 3 | 17+9 | 3 | 4+1 | 0 | 8+2 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | CIV | Sébastien Haller | 23 | 13 | 18+1 | 11 | 3+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | BFA | Lassina Traoré | 18 | 8 | 7+5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2+4 | 1 |
| 24 | GK | CMR | André Onana | 26 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | NED | Kenneth Taylor | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | FW | NED | Brian Brobbey | 19 | 6 | 1+11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1+6 | 3 |
| 31 | DF | ARG | Nicolás Tagliafico | 40 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 33 | GK | CRO | Dominik Kotarski | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | BRA | Antony | 46 | 10 | 24+8 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Players sold or loaned out after the start of the season: ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | NED | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 14 | 7 | 3+8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | NED | Quincy Promes | 25 | 6 | 10+9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | DEN | Victor Jensen | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | NED | Noa Lang | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | USA | Sergiño Dest | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 16 May 2021 Source: Competitive matches

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No | Pos | Nat | Name | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | Champions League | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 10 | FW | | Dušan Tadić | 14 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 22 |
| 2 | 6 | MF | | Davy Klaassen | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| 3 | 22 | FW | | Sébastien Haller | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 4 | 39 | FW | | Antony | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | 7 | FW | | David Neres | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | 19 | FW | | Zakaria Labyad | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | 23 | FW | | Lassina Traoré | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 8 | 9 | FW | | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 9 | 11 | FW | | Quincy Promes | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | 30 | FW | | Brian Brobbey | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | 8 | MF | | Ryan Gravenberch | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 12 | 20 | MF | | Mohammed Kudus | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 | 15 | DF | | Devyne Rensch | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | 18 | MF | | Jurgen Ekkelenkamp | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | 21 | DF | | Lisandro Martínez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | 4 | DF | | Edson Álvarez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | 2 | DF | | Jurriën Timber | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 3 | DF | | Perr Schuurs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 12 | DF | | Noussair Mazraoui | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 17 | DF | | Daley Blind | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 31 | DF | | Nicolás Tagliafico | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 102 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 133 |
Last updated: 16 May 2021 Source: Competitive matches

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No | Pos | Nat | Name | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | Champions League Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Maarten Stekelenburg | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 24 | GK | | André Onana | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | 16 | GK | | Kjell Scherpen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 16 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
Last updated: 16 May 2021 Source: Competitive matches

### Disciplinary record

| N | P | Name | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | Champions League Europa League | Champions League Europa League | Total | Total | Total |
| 2 | DF | Jurriën Timber | | | | 1 | | 1 | | |
| 3 | DF | Perr Schuurs | 2 | | 1 | 2 | | 5 | | |
| 4 | DF | Edson Álvarez | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 6 | | 2 |
| 5 | DF | Sean Klaiber | 1 | | | | | 1 | | |
| 6 | MF | Davy Klaassen | 2 | | 1 | 1 | | 4 | | |
| 7 | FW | David Neres | 2 | | | 2 | | 4 | | |
| 8 | MF | Ryan Gravenberch | 3 | | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| 10 | FW | Dušan Tadić | 1 | | 1 | | | 2 | | |
| 11 | FW | Quincy Promes | | | | 1 | | 1 | | |
| 12 | DF | Noussair Mazraoui | | | | 1 | | 1 | | |
| 15 | DF | Devyne Rensch | | | 2 | 3 | | 5 | | |
| 17 | DF | Daley Blind | 3 | | | 2 | | 5 | | |
| 20 | MF | Mohammed Kudus | 3 | | | | | 3 | | |
| 21 | DF | Lisandro Martínez | 4 | | | 2 | | 6 | | |
| 22 | FW | Sébastien Haller | 2 | | | | | 2 | | |
| 23 | FW | Lassina Traoré | | | | 1 | | 1 | | |
| 24 | GK | André Onana | 1 | | | | | 1 | | |
| 25 | MF | Kenneth Taylor | | 1 | | | | | | 1 |
| 30 | FW | Brian Brobbey | | | | 1 | | 1 | | |
| 31 | DF | Nicolás Tagliafico | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | | 10 | | 1 |
| 39 | FW | Antony | 2 | | | | | 2 | | |
Last updated: 16 May 2021 Source: Competitive matches Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.