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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
JOE KRISHNAN

Tottenham Champions League semi-final: Ajax get major boost as Dutch FA move entire Eredevisie matchday

Tottenham's Champions League semi-final opponents Ajax have been handed a boost by the Dutch Football Association ahead of the first leg.

Mauricio Pochettino's side sealed their place in the semi-final for the first time after edging past Manchester City 4-4 on aggregate thanks to the away goal rule, despite losing 4-3 in an incredible encounter on Wednesday night.

They will meet Ajax, who stunned Juventus on Tuesday, as they battle for a place in the final but the Amsterdam outfit have been handed a huge advantage ahead of the first leg in London.

The KNVB have agreed to reschedule all Eredivisie fixtures in the 33rd gameweek in order to allow the Dutch giants extra time to prepare for the last-four tie.

Ajax were due to play De Graafschap on April 28 - just two days before the midweek Champions League fixture.

Ajax reached the Champions League semi-finals with a memorable 3-2 aggregate win over Juventus. (AFP/Getty Images/Marco Bertorello)

But now, the penultimate gameweek in the Dutch league will be moved to May 15, meaning Erik ten Hag's side will have a full week of rest between their league match against Vitesse before facing Spurs.

KNVB football director Eric Gudde explained that the clubs unanimously agreed to move the fixtures to enable Ajax the best chance of reaching the Champions League final.

"The wishes of the clubs were identified in the creation of the matchday calendar for the 2018-19 season," he said.

"It was jointly decided that the cancellation of a mid-week round should be given priority over the very small chance that one of the clubs would go that far come in the Champions League."

Tottenham will also see their Premier League match against Bournemouth, currently scheduled to take place on May 6, rearranged given that it comes just two days before the second leg in Amsterdam.

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