Ajax continue their Conference League league phase campaign this week against Denmark's FC Midtylland in the third round of fixtures. The Amsterdam side arrive with confidence after a 2-0 win over Atalanta and are competing near the top of the Vriendenloterij Eredivisie. What can they expect from the relatively little-known Superligaen leaders? Voetbalzone take a closer look at the side hosting the visitors from the Netherlands on Thursday.
Midtjylland have struggled in Europe's third-tier competition so far. They took just one point against Albania's Egnatia (1-1), before Belgium's Sint-Truiden left the MCH Arena with a 2-1 victory. Their first Conference League win remains elusive. Domestically, it is a different story. Mike Tullberg's side lead the Danish league with 31 points from twelve matches and have recorded nine wins. Major title favourites FC Copenhagen trail them by five points.
Considerable quality lost
That league form is all the more impressive given the players Midtjylland lost last summer. Striker Franculino and winger Aral Simsir joined Trabzonspor for €35 million, taking more than 30 goals and a string of assists out of the side. The Danish club also sold central defender Han-beom Lee to Club Brugge (€9 million) and frequently scoring midfielder Valdemar Byskov to AZ (€6 million). Right winger Dario Osorio joined Crystal Palace on loan, with the English club able to sign the Chilean permanently next year for €32 million.
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To replace those key players, Midtjylland turned to the transfer market. They prised former Ajax defender Rasmus Kristensen away from Eintracht Frankfurt for €6 million and spent more than €7 million on David Martínez, a Venezuela international winger from Los Angeles FC. Midfielder Kjell Wätjen swapped Borussia Dortmund for the Danish leaders, while Nordin Bakker left sc Heerenveen for Midtjylland. Friday Etim strengthened the forward line after a successful spell at Fredericia, as did Mileta Rajkovic, who joined on loan from Legia Warsaw.
Passionate coach
Ambitious coach Tullberg has played a part in Midtjylland's strong form. The 40-year-old from Farum had a modest playing career that ended at Germany's Rot-Weiss Oberhausen in 2011. The former forward moved into coaching and joined Borussia Dortmund in 2019. There, he coached the second team and the Under-19s before a brief spell as interim first-team coach in the Bundesliga and Champions League in early 2025. Tullberg stepped back down at BVB, at the end of the 2024/25 season, and the Midtjylland board appointed him a few months later.
Under Tullberg, Midtjylland challenged for the Danish league title for much of last season. Aarhus GF claimed the championship, but his side won the national cup. Han-beom Lee scored an 82nd-minute winner as they beat favourites FC Copenhagen 1-0 in the final on 14 May. Midtjylland also finished third in the Europa League league phase, before Nottingham Forest knocked them out over two legs in the round of 16. They could still take satisfaction from their European campaign.
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On the touchline, Tullberg's passion sometimes gets the better of him. He received no fewer than nine yellow cards for heated behaviour in the 2025/26 season. He constantly coaches and encourages his players during matches, demanding aggression, energy and a high press. Dangerous on the counter-attack, Midtjylland aim to control games and seize the initiative. Losing possession can leave space behind their defence, though. Tullberg demands complete dedication and commitment from his players every day.
Links between the two clubs
Few would count Midtjylland among European football's biggest names, but the club, founded in 1999, signed Rafael van der Vaart in the twilight of his career in 2016. The much-discussed move did not meet expectations. Then-coach Jess Thorup regularly complained about the experienced Dutchman's fitness, and Van der Vaart played just 20 matches in total. In his second season, he rarely even made the matchday squad. He finished the 2017/18 campaign with just six minutes across two substitute appearances and watched from the stands as Midtjylland won the title.
Technical director Claus Steinlein nevertheless told Ekstra Bladet that Van der Vaart's brief spell at the MCH Arena had brought benefits beyond the pitch. "We are still happy with him. Firstly, for commercial reasons. Shirt sales have risen and there has also been more media interest. In addition, Van der Vaart is a real mentor to our young players. They all see that, as a player, he brings something extra onto the pitch," the Danish executive said in August 2017.
Other links between Ajax and Midtjylland run through their playing squads. Viktor Fischer spent time in the Danish club's youth academy before Ajax brought him to the Netherlands in 2011. Kristensen, now Midtjylland's captain, also left the club for Ajax. The right-back did not make a definitive breakthrough there and chose Red Bull Salzburg in 2019. He has never regretted the move to Ajax, however. "I gave everything for Ajax and still follow the club. The decision to go from FC Midtjylland to Ajax was the best of my life," the defender recently told Ajax Life.
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For several weeks, Midtjylland have had a Dutch goalkeeper between the posts. An injury to first-choice keeper Elías Ólafsson gave Nordin Bakker his chance, and he seized it. The former Almere City FC and sc Heerenveen goalkeeper has now played eight matches, including the 2-1 win over FC Copenhagen in a meeting of the leading sides. Bakker looks certain to start when Ajax visit on Thursday. "I'm really looking forward to it. I was back in the Netherlands last week, and my family and friends have talked about nothing but that match," the North Holland native told Bold in early October.
Young club
Founded on 1 July 1999 through a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad, Midtjylland set out to become a footballing powerhouse in Central Jutland. The club played home matches in Ikast before moving to Herning in 2004. After several second-place finishes in the Superligaen, Midtjylland won their first title in 2015, a milestone for a club just sixteen years old. They now regularly play in European competitions and attract players from outside Denmark. Their current squad includes players from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Colombia, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and England, among other countries.
Previous meetings
Thursday will be only the third meeting between Ajax and Midtjylland. Their previous encounters came in the 2020/21 season. On 3 November 2020, goals from Antony in the opening minute and Dusan Tadic gave Ajax a 2-1 win in Denmark. A few weeks later, Ajax won 3-1. Ryan Gravenberch, Noussair Mazraoui and David Neres all scored in the second half before Awer Mabil struck an 80th-minute consolation for the visitors. Midtjylland finished with ten players after Erik Sviatchenko received a red card in stoppage time. They have another chance on Thursday to beat Ajax for the first time in the club's history.
Predicted FC Midtjylland line-up: Bakker; Maxsø, Diao, Bech; Kristensen, Bravo, Hyun-seok, Wätjen, Bak; Emefile, Rajović.