On 16 February, one of the Europa League football matches took place. Ajax (Amsterdam) and Union (Berlin) met.
Europa League
"Ajax (Amsterdam) v Union (Berlin) - 0-0 (0-0)
Warnings: Khedira (57), D. Doehy (85)
An exciting UEFA Europa League tie between Ajax and Union Berlin at the Johan Cruyff Arena ended in a goalless stalemate. The Cup holders had a fair number of chances in the first half, but the quality of their finishing let them down and they could not turn the tide. Union Berlin were unsuccessful in the first 45 minutes, with long balls into the Ajax box, and it was not until five minutes into the second half that they seemed to wake up. Oliver Weindal and Brain Brobbi were substituted by Ajax in the 46th minute and soon after, in the 57th minute, Union Berlin received the first yellow card of the match.
In the 65th minute, Union Berlin thought they had taken the lead when midfielder Marius Thorsby shot past the Ajax goalkeeper, but the referee made the handball count. In the 70th minute, Union Berlin made a second substitution as Christian Behrens came on in place of Jean-Philippe Sibatscheu. Ajax followed suit five minutes later, replacing Steven Bergwein with Donny van de Bijk. By this point, Union Berlin had gone fully into the game and received another yellow card in the 85th minute. Both teams made their final substitutions in the 90th minute: Jean Marie Roussillon replaced Nico Guisselmann for Union Berlin and Davy Klaassen came on in place of Steven Bergwein for Ajax. The match ended without a goal after 90 minutes of exciting football that showed the fighting spirit and determination of both teams.
The next round of fixtures will see Union v Ajax and Union v Ajax.
Ajax v Union match statistics:
| Ajax | Union | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Shots on goal | 3 |
| 8 | Strikes | 12 |
| 1 | Blocked kicks | 2 |
| 4 | Kicks from the penalty area | 6 |
| 4 | Kicks from behind the penalty box | 6 |
| 9 | Offences | 13 |
| 3 | Corner | 3 |
| 0 | Offsides | 2 |
| 68% | Possession of the ball | 32% |
| 0 | Yellow cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red cards | 0 |
| 3 | Safeties by goalkeeper | 0 |
| 559 | Total assists | 257 |
| 483 | Accurate passes | 172 |
| 86% | Accuracy of transmissions | 67% |