Ajax Amsterdam beat Juventus 2-1 in the second leg of their tie to progress to semi-finals of UEFA Champions League after a long wait of 22 years, since the last time they reached this stage of the tournament was in the year 1997.
Matthijs de Ligt’s second half towering-header secure the victory for Ajax, thereby sealing their place in the last-eight of the tournament on Tuesday.
After drawing the first-leg, Juventus were looking to get an early lead before Cristiano Ronaldo found the net in the 28th minute with a powerful header. Ajax’s Donny van de Beek equalised in a passage of six minutes keeping his side alive in the game.
Paulo Dybala was replaced with Moise Kean at the beginning of second-half but it was the Dutch teenage sensation de Ligt who drove home Lasse Schone’s corner, thus leaving Juventus needing two goals in 23 minutes.
Earlier in the competition, the Dutch side had already knocked-out Real Madrid with a stunning 4-1 victory at Santiago Bernabeu. Now they will face Tottenham Hotspur to find a place in the finals.
Dutch coach Erik ten Hang said (h/t NEWS18):
It’s an incredible evening for Ajax and its players and also for Dutch football. Once again we eliminated the favourites.We said before we were not the favourites but with our philosophy we can go further, we’ve again surpassed our limits.
Juventus was looking to reach the semi-finals for the third time in the last five seasons with the ultimate aim of winning the Champions League. For achieving this end, they signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid, splurging out $117 million (h/t NEWS18) last summer. Juventus last won the Champions League in the year 1996, beating Ajax in the final.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said (h/t NEWS18):
Ajax deserved to qualify. We could have done better, but Ajax aren’t coming out of nowhere, they were Europa League finalists two years ago and scored five goals against Real. It’s not our worst elimination. We had big expectations, but the Champions League is a strange competition. You have to arrive in peak condition. In the last month we have been struggling with several injuries. Even tonight we were missing important players.
Ajax have won the Champions League four times, their last win coming in the year 1995. They had to beat Juventus in the year 1973 to lift their third consecutive Champions League trophy.
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