Ajax

Three European Cups in a row, 1971 through 1973, remain the measure Ajax get judged against: the trophy lifted three years running, with a style of play that reshaped how attacking and defending were thought about together. The name most tied to that era, Johan Cruyff, now belongs to the club's own stadium. A second European Cup followed in 1995. Ajax had also added the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1987, and the UEFA Cup, in 1992, completing the set of trophies UEFA ran at the time.

Domestically the count runs to 36 Eredivisie titles and 20 KNVB Beker wins, built up since the club's founding on 18 March 1900.

Much of that record traces back to De Toekomst, the academy widely rated among the strongest anywhere in the game. It produced Cruyff himself, then Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and Edwin van der Sar, and later Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, all of whom left Amsterdam for the sport's biggest clubs after learning it there first.

Ajax play in white shirts with a red centre stripe at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, colours that carry the nickname De Godenzonen. No fixture matters more than the one against Feyenoord, De Klassieker, a rivalry that sits above the club's other derby, De Topper, against PSV.