When the draw is made for the beginning of the 60th edition of the UEFA Champions League in Monaco on Thursday, 32 teams will be looking forward to the draw, all for different reasons.
The current champions, Real Madrid, won the illustrious competition for a record 10th time in May, with a 4-1 win over city rivals Atletico Madrid. After the final, branded by Real fans as 'La Decima', any critics who claimed that the Spanish side weren't the most successful club side in European football history were soon silenced. Carlo Ancelotti's history-makers will be looking to break more records this season, as they begin their push to become the first team to lift the trophy for two consecutive years, a feat not achieved since the introduction of the current format of the competition, back in 1992.
However, for Ajax, their run in this year's campaign will be crucial in attempting to rebuild their reputation across Europe and proving to everyone that they can still rub shoulders with the footballing giants.
The reigning domestic champions, led by Dutch legend Frank de Boer, haven't managed to get out of the group in the Champions League since 2006 and for the last four years, Ajax have finished third in their groups, meaning a demoralising drop into the knockout stages of the Europa League.
The final next May will mark the 20th anniversary of the famous Louis van Gaal-inspired victory in 1995, the last time Ajax tasted European glory and that is indeed, for a supposed European top gun, far too long to wait for another title.
So, what does the group stage draw on Thursday have in store for the side from Amsterdam?
Well, as not all of the teams have qualified yet, such as Arsenal, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pots are partly incomplete at the moment.
It can almost certainly be assumed that Ajax are in Pot 3 rather than Pot 2 (still to be decided), due to their recent European under-achievement. This would put them in a pot with (so far): Liverpool, Galatasaray and Sporting Lisbon, with the possible later additions of Roma and Anderlecht.
The best draw:
Schalke
Shakhtar Donetsk
Ajax
FC Copenhagen (Should they qualify)
This would be a fairly easy group, on paper anyway and one could imagine Ajax taking top or certainly second spot (with Schalke) if they bring their A-game. The side that everyone knows can play, but just never seem to turn up when they need to.
The worst/hardest draw:
Real Madrid
Juventus
Ajax
Monaco
This group would most certainly earn the title 'the group of death', with the current holders, Real Madrid, having an extra incentive to win now, in order to make even more history.
The Italian champions, Juventus, are sometimes a bit of an unknown quantity in Europe, some seasons, they have ground down teams with their tactical approach and strength, while other years, like Ajax, they have severely under performed. Last year, The Old Lady, gave up their runners-up spot to surprise package Galatasaray and were instead relegated to the Europa League where they were beaten by eventual runners-up Benfica in the semi-finals. The Turin-based side will probably have a bit of a shaky start to the season as they begin life without successful Antonio Conte and welcome ex-Milan manager Massimo Allegri, but expect them to come back firing from next season.
Back to Ajax, though, whoever they get in this year's Champions League, you get the feeling they need to at least qualify for the last 16 for the first time in eight years, or risk getting frozen out of people's 'Top European Clubs' list.
This year, failure is simply not an option for Ajax.