Thursday, 22:05, Gelsenkirchen, Auf Schalke, referee - Ovidiu Hacegan (Romania). Live broadcast on the TV channel UFO TV.

The first match of Ajax - Schalke 2: 0 Goals: Klaassen, 23, with a penalty, 52.

Warnings: Klaassen, David Nares - Kerer, Istanbul.

In the first match against Schalke, Ajax looked to the head above the opponent and won a deserved victory. However, we should not rush to write off Gorniakov from the accounts, since a victory with two-ball advantage still guarantees nothing in the confrontation with a representative of the First Bundesliga.

The current Ajax is not yet up to the best examples of the team of the past, but it is approaching the ideal that his coach Peter Bosch would like to see - a fast, elegant attacking machine. Perhaps, it is in confinement to the attack that lies the weakness of the Dutch grandee.

A sluggish game, demonstrated in Amsterdam, is not typical for Schalke, and on the home arena Cobalt will certainly appear in a completely different form. Whether Ajax can play strictly on the defensive and catch the hosts on counterattacks - the question is still one, but in a dashing cabin on the oncoming courses who knows who will be lucky.

Interesting facts - The last three home games with the teams from the Netherlands ended with the victory of Schalke with a difference of three goals: Twente - 4: 1, PSV - 3: 0, Roda - 3: 0.

- In the current European season, Schalke does not lose at home - 3 wins (all with a difference of 2 goals) and 2 draws.

Approximate compositions of Schalke: Fermann - Koke, Hededes, Nastasic, Kolasinac - Gais, Bentalaleb - Shepf, Gorecka, Kalijouri - Burgstaller.

Ajax: Onana - Tete, Sanchez, Ligt, Virgever - Klaassen, Schone, Ziech - Traore, Dolberg, Younes.

Disqualified: Kerer (Schalke).

Injured: Embolo, Baba, Naldo, Aogo (Schalke).

In doubt: Chupo-Moting - Sinigraven.

Words by Markus Weinzirl, coach Schalke:.

"We lost the last two matches, but if we did not have a chance against Ajax, then we just had no luck with Darmstadt.

I hope that in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinal we will be able to win. At home we always play stronger, so we need to use the effect of native walls and continue our Euro-season ".

Peter Bosch, Ajax's mentor:.

"I hope I was able to prepare the team for the return match properly. We perfectly understand that at home Schalke will play much stronger than in Amsterdam, but we hope that home victory will help us reach the semifinal of the Europa League ".

Forecast 1: 1.