Champions League Matchday 8: Ajax vs Olympiacos facts
Friday, January 23, 2026
Article summary
Previous meetings, club facts and key stats ahead of the UEFA Champions League Matchday 8 game.
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Ajax and Olympiacos will both look to make it three successive UEFA Champions League victories as they meet in Amsterdam on the final night of league phase action.
The Dutch side are in 32nd position on six points ahead of Matchday 8 having won their last two fixtures after losing the first five; Olympiacos are two points better off on eight and occupy 24th position, the final qualifying spot for the knockout phase play-offs.
Last match
The teams have met six times, each winning two. This is their first fixture since the 1998/99 group stage, when Olympiacos won 1-0 at home before Ajax triumphed 2-0 in Amsterdam.
Ajax's home record against Olympiacos is W2 D1 with three clean sheets.
The Dutch club have lost just one of their last 15 meetings with Greek opposition (W9 D5), that sole defeat in their most recent encounter – 0-1 at home to Panathinaikos in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg, a tie Ajax won 13-12 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw.
A 1-1 Matchday 4 draw at home to PSV Eindhoven means Olympiacos have lost only one of their last six matches against Dutch teams (W2 D3). In the Champions League, it is two defeats in seven games (W3 D2).
However, the Greek club have never won in Netherlands, where their record is D2 L4, with one goal scored and nine conceded.
This is Ajax's 19th appearance in the Champions League proper – a Dutch record they share with PSV Eindhoven – and a first since 2022/23.
The Amsterdammers were 12th in the league phase of the 2024/25 Europa League, eventually losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the last 16 (1-2 h, 1-4 a).
Ajax parted company with coach John Heitinga on 6 November, assistant Fred Grim replacing him on an interim basis.
This is Olympiacos' 21st appearance in the Champions League proper – but a first since 2020/21. That ended in the group stage, for the fifth successive Champions League campaign.
The Greek side lost to Bodø/Glimt in last season's Europa League round of 16, having finished seventh in the league phase.
Key stats
A 2-1 comeback victory at Villarreal on Matchday 7 means Ajax have won consecutive Champions League matches for the first time since 2021/22, when they triumphed in all six of their group games.
The Amsterdammers have lost their last five home European matches, including all three without scoring in this season's league phase.
Ajax have conceded the first goal in all their seven league phase matches this season. Their 19 goals conceded in the first seven matches is the joint most with Kairat Almaty.
Oscar Gloukh got the equaliser at Villarreal to make it three goals in Ajax's last two Champions League matches.
Olympiacos won 2-0 at home to Leverkusen on Matchday 7. Having also triumphed 1-0 at Kairat on Matchday 6, they are aiming to win back‑to‑back away games at this stage for only the second time and the first since beating Arsenal and Dinamo Zagreb in the 2015/16 group stage.
Olympiacos have won successive matches in the same edition of the Champions League for the first time since 2015/16, when they recorded three successive victories.