Chelsea dominated from start to finish to see off a disappointing Ajax side at Stamford Bridge. Check out the best facts and Opta data from the game with our Chelsea vs Ajax stats page.
Chelsea continued their fine recent run of form with a dominant win over Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The victory extended their winning run in all competitions to four, and Enzo Maresca’s side appear to be finding their groove after a mixed start to the 2025-26 season.
That’s in spite of the fact that they have a squad with so little experience at this level.
Chelsea named the second youngest starting XI by an English side in a Champions League game, with an average age of 22 years, 163 days; Arsenal vs Olympiakos in December 2009 is the only younger English starting team in the competition’s history (21 years, 151 days).
By contrast, Ajax fielded goalkeeper Remko Pasveer who, at 41 years and 348 days, became the third-oldest player in Champions League history, behind Marco Ballotta (43 years, 252 days in 2007 for Lazio) and Gianluigi Buffon (42 years, 315 days in 2020 for Juventus).
The gap in age between Remko Pasveer and Chelsea’s youngest player on the night, Estêvão, was larger (23 years, 189 days) than the age of 12 of the other 20 starting players.
Chelsea were big favourites coming into a game against an Ajax side who were bottom of the league phase having failed to score a single goal in their opening two defeats. And any real hope of an upset evaporated inside 18 minutes.
First, Ajax captain Kenneth Taylor received a straight red card for a reckless challenge in midfield on Facundo Buonanotte, and just one minute and 18 seconds later, the ball was in the back of the Ajax net as Marc Guiu opened the scoring.
In doing so, the 19-year-old became only the fourth player to score a Champions League goal for two clubs while still a teenager (Barcelona and Chelsea), after Kylian Mbappé (Monaco, PSG), Erling Haaland (RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund) and George Ilenikhena (Royal Antwerp, Monaco).
Moisés Caicedo doubled the lead with a heavily deflected effort from distance, before a flurry of three penalties in the final 15 minutes of the first half ended the game as a contest.
Chelsea 5-1 Ajax xg race champions league
Ajax gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Wout Weghorst pulled one back from 12 yards, but the former Manchester United forward then slid in clumsily on Enzo Fernández to concede a spot kick at the other end. Fernández converted that one, before deciding a few minutes later that Chelsea’s next penalty should be taken by Estêvão, who calmly scored his first ever Champions League goal.
Chelsea made three substitutions at the break, but little else about the game changed, and they started the second half as they’d ended the first. Within three minutes, one of those substitutes, 19-year-old Tyrique George, added a fifth. It meant Chelsea had become the first team in Champions League history to have three teenagers score for them in a single match.
At that stage, it looked like Chelsea might challenge the eight-goal record for the biggest win in Champions League history but with the win secured and Ajax tiring, the hosts took their foot off the gas.
There was no record-breaking scoreline, but Chelsea will be delighted to come away with a 5-1 win on this occasion.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Chelsea vs Ajax stats from their Champions League meeting at Stamford Bridge.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Chelsea vs Ajax: Selected Post-Match Facts
For just the third time in all European competitions, Ajax conceded five goals in a single match, also doing so in a 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in October 1980 in the European Cup and a 6-1 defeat to Napoli in October 2022 in the Champions League.
Chelsea netted five goals in a Champions League match for the first time since a 6-0 win over Qarabag in September 2017, while since the start of last season, only Barcelona (52) and Paris Saint-Germain (51) have scored more goals in major European competition than the Blues (49).
Estêvão is the youngest player to score for Chelsea in the Champions League (18 years, 181 days). The Brazilian is also the third-youngest penalty scorer in Champions League history, behind Bojan (18y 90d for Barcelona vs Sporting in 2008) and Lamine Yamal (18y 100d for Barcelona vs Olympiakos on Tuesday this week).
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