Villarreal 1–2 Ajax
- Oluwaseyi 49'
- Gloukh 61'
- Edvardsen 89'
20 January 2026
The match in data
Ajax got the better of Villarreal, 2–1, on 20 January 2026, in the 2025-26 Champions League (League Stage 7).
Ajax came from behind: they were trailing 1–0 at 49'.
Player of the match: Nicolas Pépé (Villarreal), rated 59, thanks above all to 0.81 xG and 3 shots on target. Pépé produced 2.5 times as much as a forward typically does, at 2.0 times the cost.
It was also their best match of the season.
For Ajax, the highest-rated player was Youri Regeer, with 77.
Nicolas Pépé
Villarreal · 72'
Produced 2.46× and cost 1.99× their position's average
- 0.81 xG 3.7×
- 3 shots on target 4.0×
- 1 big chance created 4.0×
- 0.81 xG not converted 4.0×
- 3 shots off target 2.7×
Match ratings
Everyone who played, sorted by rating. No rating: goalkeepers and anyone who played under 20 minutes.
| Player | Position | Min | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rafa Marín | Defender | 90 | 67 |
| Tani Oluwaseyi | Forward | 90 | 60 |
| Nicolas Pépé ★ | Forward | 72 | 59 |
| Thomas Partey | Midfielder | 74 | 54 |
| Ayoze Pérez | Forward | 72 | 52 |
| Alberto Moleiro | Forward | 46 | 52 |
| Renato Veiga | Defender | 90 | 44 |
| Tajon Buchanan | Forward | 44 | 44 |
| Santi Comesaña | Midfielder | 90 | 43 |
| Santiago Mouriño | Defender | 90 | 42 |
| Sergi Cardona | Defender | 90 | 42 |
| Arnau Tenas | Goalkeeper | 90 | no rating |
| Georges Mikautadze | Forward | 18 | no rating |
| Gerard Moreno | Forward | 18 | no rating |
| Dani Parejo | Midfielder | 16 | no rating |
| Player | Position | Min | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youri Regeer | Midfielder | 54 | 77 |
| Davy Klaassen | Midfielder | 90 | 61 |
| Ko Itakura | Defender | 36 | 59 |
| Mika Godts | Forward | 90 | 49 |
| Aaron Bouwman | Defender | 90 | 47 |
| Anton Gaaei | Defender | 90 | 44 |
| Oscar Gloukh | Midfielder | 84 | 42 |
| Youri Baas | Defender | 90 | 39 |
| Jorthy Mokio | Midfielder | 71 | 38 |
| Kasper Dolberg | Forward | 71 | 37 |
| Owen Wijndal | Defender | 84 | 27 |
| Vitezslav Jaros | Goalkeeper | 90 | no rating |
| Rayane Bounida | Midfielder | 19 | no rating |
| Sean Steur | Midfielder | 19 | no rating |
| Kian Fitz-Jim | Midfielder | 6 | no rating |
| Oliver Edvardsen | Forward | 6 | no rating |
How is the rating calculated?
The rating measures a single match: what the player produced against what they cost, compared with the average for their position in that league and season, and adjusted by position (a 70 for a forward is as hard to get as a 70 for a defender). A normal match is around 50, 70 is already very good and only one in a hundred goes above 80. It is not the NVP, which ranks the whole season.