TURIN • First Real Madrid, now Juventus.
What a story this Champions League campaign is turning into for Ajax, who produced another remarkable performance to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1997, courtesy of a player who was not even born then.
Matthijs de Ligt, Ajax's outstanding 19-year-old captain, ended Cristiano Ronaldo's hopes of a fourth successive Champions League title and a first for Juventus with a towering header in a 2-1 comeback win on Tuesday that completed a 3-2 aggregate quarter-final success.
With Manchester City or Tottenham waiting in their semi-final, de Ligt insisted his young team are a match for anyone and can emulate the 1995 team by winning their fifth European Cup.
"Can we can go on to win the competition? Well, we are in the semi-finals now. And we have eliminated two of the favourites in the last two rounds," he said.
"We don't know what we can achieve, but we are never satisfied. There's so much potential in this team, we are all still quite young and you see us grow every game."
Ajax fell behind to Ronaldo's header in the first half before Donny van de Beek's equaliser drew the tie level on aggregate, with de Ligt's winner just reward for a superb second-half display.
Young and dangerous
FRENKIE DE JONG, 21 MIDFIELDER
Possibly the most high profile of Ajax's youngsters, de Jong has transformed from being an aggressive centre-back to more of a deep-lying midfielder after Daley Blind returned to the club from Manchester United. The Dutch midfielder has already agreed to join Barcelona in the summer on a five-year deal worth €75 million (S$114.7 million).MATTHIJS DE LIGT, 19 DEFENDER
The Dutchman (main picture) may be just 19 years old but he is already captain. A beast in the centre of defence, he can dribble forward from the back, fire laser-guided passes with either foot and has a knack for heading in corners. He will command a fee in excess of £70 million (S$123.5 million).
DAVID NERES, 22 ATTACKER
Skilful and a good dribbler, the 22-year-old Brazilian is a tricky one for full-backs to contain. The forward is excellent at creating space for himself with a neat touch or flick before putting a dangerous cross into the box. Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and United are now weighing up summer moves for the player.
That 4-1 second-leg win at Real last month seemed freakish as well as brilliant, but the scoreline here could have been similar.
Ajax's dynamic, incisive attacking football was simply too much for Juve to handle, especially in the second half when the visitors created chance after chance.
David Neres, Dusan Tadic and Hakim Ziyech wreaked havoc with their fluid movement and clever touches.
Frenkie de Jong and Lasse Schone controlled midfield and van de Beek was exceptional playing in between the lines.
Ajax coach Erik ten Hag said: "This team grows and grows. We know how to push boundaries every time. And, with Tottenham or Man City, there will be another challenge. We look forward to it."
Barcelona-bound midfielder de Jong believes the win in Turin should have been more emphatic.
"We dominated after the break and were well worth our victory. In fact, we probably should have won by more," said the 21-year-old, who will join the Catalans in the summer for €75 million (S$114.7 million) and is likely to be joined by fellow youth team graduate de Ligt.
Ajax have brought a breath of fresh air to Europe's top club competition, which has been in danger of going stale over the last decade as it has become dominated by a handful of big-money clubs.
Remarkably, Ajax are the first from outside England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France to reach the last four since fellow Dutch side PSV Eindhoven 14 years ago.
Once regarded as a major power in European football, Ajax have in the last 10 years become a feeder club, signing players at a young age, helping them mature and develop before selling them.
Even so, they have been able to build a young team that play exciting, fluid football.
"We are on the way back, the signs are there," said ten Hag. "We have incredible talents and it will get better and better."
THE GUARDIAN, REUTERS
LONDON (AP) — Norwich is returning to the English Premier League after a three-year absence, and Sheffield United is likely to be promoted, too. Norwich, from eastern England, clinched one of
Norwich promoted to the Premier League - Sheffield United on
"What keeps happening with Bale is a real shame. I like him a lot as a player but he is nowhere near being the leader of the team after Cristiano Ronaldo left," Mijatovic told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. "It's worrying that he gets injured so often."
Bale 'nowhere near' being Madrid's leader, says Mijatovic
Manchester City 3-1 Everton: Gabriel Jesus scores double and Raheem Sterling strikes late as hosts move back to the top of Premier League with win. Manchester City moved above Liverpool and back
Malcom shines in absence of other Barca stars BARCELONA • Malcom has struggled for game time at Barcelona since his €42 million (S$64.6 million) move from Bordeaux last July as he finds himself behind Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele, and Philippe Coutinho in the pecking order.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Malcom shines in Lionel Messi's
Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is is missing a few factors, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization.
Corpus of articles from the English newspaper 'The Financial
Goal achieved despite everything going wrong BERN • Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri blamed his side's lack of focus after they fell to a surprise 2-1 Champions League loss to Young Boys in their final group game on Wednesday, but was glad to advance to the last 16 as group leaders.
Juventus achieved their objective, despite everything going
All eyes on Milan clash for Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri Made In Chelsea fans delight as original stars Millie Mackintosh and Caggie Dunlop reunite for a 30th but fume over 'wellness
Injury wrap: Big calls loom for Tigers ahead of huge clash
These tools should be struck only with hammers of lesser hardness. DO NOT strike this tool with a steel sledge hammer- the hammer or sledge could explode and/or fragment causing severe injury or death. USE A BRASS OR COPPER HAMMER WHEN STRIKING A PUNCH. We have added a couple of brass hammers to this page that should work fine.
Black Ops 2 Zombies: Pack A Punch 13 Times! - YouTube
Neymar watches PSG's game against Bordeaux at the Parc des Princes at the start of February. Brazil striker Neymar says he cried for two days after breaking a metatarsal bone in his right foot in
Neymar cried for 2 days after latest injury - Nigerian's News
(Reuters) - Crystal Palace all but banished any lingering relegation fears as captain Luka Milivojevic fired home a late penalty to secure a 1-0 Premier League victory at Newcastle on Saturday.
Soccer: Milivojevic penalty seals Palace win at Newcastle
Those who are outside of the Cubs television market can watch a live stream of any non-nationally televised Cubs game on MLB.TV.If you want to watch all out-of-market teams, it costs either $24.99
Watch Chicago Cubs Live Stream - baseball-stream.com
Revived Dutch ready for 'big things' Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has praised the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum ahead of today's Belarus clash. PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/ONSORANJE.
Revived Dutch ready for 'big things' - theworldnews.net
Some interesting talking points from this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures 5 things we learnt from this weekend's Premier League action so why is it not in use in the Premier
UEFA Champions League: Liverpool oust Barcelona after historic 4-0 comeback in semifinal Liverpool will play the winner of Wednesday's other semi-final between Ajax Amsterdam and Tottenham Hotspur with the Dutch side leading 1-0 from the first-leg in London.
Liverpool beats Barcelona, reaches Champions League final on
Football: Zidane set for shock Real Madrid return, reports say
0 comments:
Post a Comment