You probably can’t name their coach but AFC Ajax are into the Champions League semi-finals after putting paid to Juventus on Tuesday night.
Goals from Donny van der Beek and Matthijs de Ligt saw Ajax snatch a 3-2 aggregate win in Turin, taking the Dutch side through to the semis for the first time since 1997…
To that end, 2018/19 will also be the first time Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t featured in the final four of a Champions League for nine years
You may recall that Juve invested €100million in acquiring the 34-year-old from Real Madrid in a calculated move to bolster their chances of conquering their ‘always the bridesmaid’ curse and actually winning the Champions League. Shame.
After being sent tumbling by Daley Blind and his rag-tag group of academy graduates, the Portuguese forward will miss out on the semis for the first time since 2009/10.
From 2007 onwards Cristiano Ronaldo has reached the CL semi-finals in every year except ones in which a Toy Story film has been released
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) 16 April 2019
With Ajax and Barcelona sailing through in style, it’s nice to see Johan Cruyff’s legacy all over the latter stages this season.
Football played the right way will always prevail… sometimes.