The Ajax love-in shows no sign of abating following Tuesday’s incredible 2-1 victory over Juventus in Turin. The party in Amsterdam raged through the night, while over in Italy Juventus business shares plummeted as much as a quarter in value.
Ajax’s victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s boys was a shock, but the manner in which the team achieved it harkened to the legendary ethos surrounding Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff and the philosophy of Total Football (I’ll go ahead and plug David Winner’s Brilliant Orange right here, a book that should be read by anyone with the slightest interest in reading).
Fans in extase na 1 -2, zoals hier in de Marktkantine #juvaja https://t.co/3kPN62bC5K pic.twitter.com/P9ujDgfzOJ
— AT5 (@AT5) April 16, 2019
The feel-good factor around the story is intensified by the fact that Ajax is the first team outside of Europe’s big five leagues to advance to the semifinals since 2005, and the makeup of the side — trending either young (Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong) or unheralded (Dušan Tadić, Lasse Schöne) — has added to the mystique.
But this was no overnight success. Those with minds like a steel trap will remember that in the heady days of two years ago, Ajax advanced to the final of the Europa League before falling to Manchester United. Players who appeared in both that final and Tuesday’s match include André Onana (now 23), Joël Veltman (27), De Ligt (19), Schöne (32), Hakim Ziyech (26), De Jong (21), Donny van de Beek (21) and David Neres (22).
These guys play with an understanding and mastery that earned the highest praise from Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero after the match.
Del Piero taking about @AFCAjax : “What impresses me most isn’t the work rate or technical ability, both of which are exceptional... it’s the way they fill the pitch, their understanding of space and time, their tactical nous... all at such a young age...” #wisewords
— Gabriele Marcotti (@Marcotti) April 16, 2019
And it’s the artistry of the transitions on display last night that’ll live long in the memory, regardless of what happens in the semifinals.
Ajax. pic.twitter.com/JbccVgojn4
— amadí (@amadoit__) April 16, 2019
Ajax now awaits either Manchester City or Tottenham, and de Godenzonen will fear neither after dumping out Real Madrid and Juve. With De Jong moving to Barcelona in the summer and De Ligt coveted by all of Europe — as well as the swell of interest in manager Erik ten Hag — it’s now or never in Ajax’s quest for a fifth European Cup (or at least another 25-year wait for another golden generation).
But who knows. The club has recently sold the likes of Davy Klaassen, Davinson Sanchez and Justin Kluivert for heaps of money, and that’s only served to strengthen the side. Ajax is apart from so much of the improvident small-mindedness that tyrannizes clubs that are increasingly commercial.
At the moment, Ajax is pure joy.
Dance like nobody's watching! #UCL #juvaja pic.twitter.com/KK64YgKqUf
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) April 17, 2019
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