THE Champions League has been Real Madrid's refuge from domestic strife in the past two seasons and they will be happy to escape worries on the home front for another 90 minutes here.
Despite all their troubles, Real are still on track for a staggering fourth successive Champions League crown, having claimed a fortuitous 2-1 win in Amsterdam in the first leg of their last-16 clash with Ajax.
But things are clearly not right at the Bernabeu, with Santiago Solari's side coming into this game on the back of successive home defeats in El Clasico.
I tipped Barca to triumph in the second leg of their Copa Del Rey semi-final and they duly delivered thanks to Luis Suarez's deadly finishing in a 3-0 win.
Saturday's league meeting was much closer but Real still stumbled to another defeat, with Ivan Rakitic netting the only goal.
That made it three Bernabeu defeats in a row for Real, who were also stunned 2-1 by Girona in La Liga, so the 9/2 on offer from most firms for an Ajax win will tempt a few punters.
In last season's Champions League, Real twice almost blew it at home in the second leg after winning on the road against Juventus then Bayern Munich.
With the crowd on their back that could happen again and I'll be putting my money on a draw on the night, which is 17/5 with Marathonbet. To increase the odds try Ajax half-time/draw full-time which is a whopping 18/1 with Bet Victor.
Sergio Ramos starts a two-match Euro ban for Real after being found guilty of deliberately trying to get a booking in the first leg and that will make Ajax's forwards fancy their chances even more.
I was impressed by the Dutch side in the group stage and they won me a few quid in a 3-3 thriller with Bayer Munich. Dusan Tadic came up trumps for me that night so I'll back the Serb to get on the scoresheet again.
The former Southampton winger is 10/3 with Paddy Power for anytime scorer and I also like the look of Karim Benzema in the same market. The Real striker has four goals in six Champions League games against Ajax so the 11/10 on offer for anytime scorer at most firms looks a wise bet.
Both teams to score should come up at but the odds are terrible at a best 40/85 with Betfair and Paddy Power. I'd be more inclined to go for under 3.5 goals which is 22/25 at Marathonbet.
This UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid and Ajax will be played on Mar 5, 2019 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs Ajax prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.