Memorable moments: Ajax crushed Tottenham in their best Champions League season, then Lucas fired Spurs to historic final

The 2018/19 Champions League season is considered by many to be one of the best in recent years. Alongside the battles between Manchester City and Tottenham and Barcelona and Liverpool, the Ajax Amsterdam tale that ended unhappily in the semi-finals stood out. Let’s reminisce about it.

For Ajax, the road to the semi-finals was already a great fairy tale. After advancing from the group, the Dutch champions first knocked out Real Madrid in the eighth round, triumphing 4-1 in the rematch at the famous Santiago Bernabeu.

Another giant, Juventus, awaited in the quarter-finals with Cristiano Ronaldo. After a 1-1 draw at home, Ajax were trailing in Turin after Ronaldo’s goal, but turned the tide with two goals to put the five Ballon d’Or winner out of the running for the trophy.

The semi-finals were up next, with Tottenham beating Manchester City. The English battle was also entertaining, with the Citizens scoring the rematch’s opening goal in the set-up, but it was disallowed for offside after a minor leak was discovered by one of the players in blue.

Tottenham went into the home semi-final without the injured Harry Kane and the out-of-sorts Heung Min Son. A seemingly weak line-up, whose biggest stars were Dele Alli and Hugo Lloris, did not keep up from the opening minutes.

Spurs still managed to hold on to their first two chances, but in the 14th minute Donny van de Beek made no mistake with a chance. And Ajax couldn’t get enough. Its one-touch combinations were entertaining, David Neres, Dusan Tadic, Hakim Ziyech, van de Beek, all playing the best football of their careers.

Quick one-touch actions gave the experienced but old home defence a problem, but luckily for them Erik ten Hag’s charges were not successful in the end. Only towards the end of the first half did the home attack make itself known, but Lucas Moura could do nothing himself. So far…

After the change of sides, the game was even, with the Londoners threatening mainly from the air, yet it was Ajax who came closest to a second goal. David Neres, however, only hit the back post and it was a 1:0 result for the Dutch.

For Mauricio Pochettino it was crucial that he could already count on Son for the away game. But what he definitely didn’t count on was the goal he conceded in the fifth minute, when Matthijs de Ligt headed in from a corner kick.

Ajax continued to have the upper hand, and on the other end Son had the equaliser from Tottenham’s first big chance, but only hit the bar. And the home side punished. In the 35th minute, Hakim Ziyech put his powerful left foot on the ball from a volley, Lloris stretching in vain. Half-time 2: 0, 3: 0 on aggregate, it seemed to be done.

Early in the second half, Alli’s shot was saved by André Onana, and in the 55th minute Lucas made no mistake with a great chance. The home team started to get confused, although they were still two goals up. In the 59th minute, spasmodic play cost them a second goal.

Lasse Schöne miscommunicated with Onana in the whitewash, Lucas took the ball from them, oriented himself in a crowded area like Lightning McQuen in an accident and equalized with a snappy shot. The away goal rule was still in place in the 2018/19 season, so Spurs only needed one goal to advance.

Anyway, Ajax didn’t depend, they wanted to secure the final themselves. Ziyech fired into the bar and then a dangerous shot from the right was cleared by Lloris. When Amsterdam’s crossbar saved the day in the 87th minute, they seemed to be out of the worst of it.

But in the last minute of stoppage time, Lucas raced through the middle of the pitch, found the ball and headed in a third with a ground shot to make it 3-2. The stadium went silent, the players in red shirts dropped to the ground like skittles, with only a small group of visiting fans celebrating.

At that moment, it was no use explaining to the Ajax players that even the semi-final was a huge success for the club. Any sportsman will understand that you don’t think of anything like that in such a situation. In hindsight, however, this statement must be described as true, just look at the eleven at the time.

Eight of Ajax’s starting lineup are now playing in top 5 leagues, the other three are veterans. Noussair Mazraoui and de Ligt are kicking at Bayern, de Jong at Barcelona, Ziyech at Chelsea. These are the top clubs in Europe.

Source: UEFA