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16.04.2019 » Juventus 1-2 Ajax. Game over in the Champions League!
Juventus were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League this Tuesday night, following a shocking 1-2 loss against Ajax at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. But for those who had the chance to watch this second-leg game, perhaps "shocking" isn't really the best adjective to qualify what happened on the pitch... The Dutch side imposed their energy and attacking football all around the field and deservingly won the game against a somewhat disappointing Juventus team. The Italians even scored first thanks to another great header from Cristiano Ronaldo, but ended up getting overwhelmed by Ajax's "total football".
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Juventus vs Ajax
Juventus 1-2 Ajax - Goals and highlights:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs Ajax:
They had been warned before...
What happened in the Bernabéu in March should have worked as a big warning to whoever was about to face Ajax in the quarter-finals round of the UEFA Champions League, but judging by the 2 games we've seen between Juventus and the Dutch side, it doesn't look the Bianconeri took their opponent as serious as they should have.
The Italian champions came into this match with a slight advantage following their 1-1 draw in Amsterdam last week and they even managed to break the deadlock and grab the lead this Tuesday night in Italy. However, Ajax responded extremelly well and brought the fight to the hosts by playing a very positive and attacking football, something which Juventus quite simply didn't seem prepared to. It's a shame for all Bianconeri fans, who were once again forced to see their team exiting the competition a lot earlier than they expected.
The game started with Juventus trying to intimidate Ajax and somehow get them frightened with the whole atmosphere around this big match. And in the first minutes, it looked like Allegri's plans were working as planned, with Juve forcing Ajax to defend tight at the back and creating a few chances to score. That wouldn't last long though...
It was only a matter of time until everyone realized this game was going to be as disputed as the one played in Amsterdam at the Johan Cruyff Arena, if not more than that first leg clash. The visitors showed extreme confidence in their football and in their playing style, almost as if they knew that if they managed to keep their identity on the pitch, they would leave this game victorious.
Ajax 'total football' was
too much to handle...
In the 28th minute of the game, Juventus even got one step closer to advance to the semi-finals when they saw Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 6th goal in the competition and once again from a header, but the joy wouldn't stick around for too long. The former Real Madrid star was left without marking inside the box and when Pjanic executed a perfect cross from a corner-kick, we all knew what was going to happen once the ball met Ronaldo's head. Another display of power and placement using his head and Juventus were in front.
Those who immediately thought it was all over when they saw that Ronaldo header going in, soon were proved wrong... It took Ajax roughly 6 minutes to respond with the tying goal and it all happened in a play where Juventus' defence was caught sleeping. A first shot from Ziyech ended up falling on Donny van de Beek's feet and the Dutchman suddenly found himself with a golden chance to beat Szczesny in a 1-on-1 situation. He kept his calm and composure in his finish and sent the game back to square one.
With a 1-1 draw at half-time, few people in the stadium certainly predicted such an impressive second half from Ajax, at least those who weren't Dutch supporters. We've seen chance after chance from the visitors and the truth is that they could have scored 3 or 4 times and we would have to say it had been deserved. The decisive goal however, only arrived in the 67th minute. A corner kick taken from Lasse Schone found the team's captani Matthijs de Ligt rising high in the air and Barcelona's main target for the upcoming transfer season beat Szczesny with a powerful header to put his team in the driving seat for the first time in this tie.
There were still more than 20 minutes left to be played, but it were the visitors who kept creating the best chances to score and Juventus just couldn't find a way to break down Ajax's total football. The game would finish with Ajax 2-1 win (3-2 on aggregate) and there's no other way to look at it: Juventus weren't good enough to beat Ajax and they're going to need to improve their team next season.
Juventus line-up vs Ajax:
Goalkeeper: Szczesny
Defenders: De Sciglio, Rugani, Bonucci, Alex Sandro
Midfielders: Matuidi, Pjanic, Bernardeschi, Can
Attackers: Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo
Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
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|---|---|---|
Juventus
|
vs
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Ajax
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1 |
Goals |
2 |
13 |
Shots |
14 |
3 |
Shots on goal |
4 |
4 |
Corner kicks |
5 |
14 |
Fouls commited |
12 |
2 |
Yellow cards |
0 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
50% |
Ball possession |
50% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Juventus is for the Serie A on April 20 of 2019, against Fiorentina. You can watch Juventus vs Fiorentina, Nantes vs PSG, Valencia vs Villarreal, Manchester City vs Tottenham, FC Porto vs Liverpool, and Eintracht Frankfurt vs Benfica, all matches provided from our live streaming soccer game pages.
Juventus next game:
Juventus vs Fiorentina kick-off time (20-04-2019):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 00:00
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 23:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 21:30
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+2: 18:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 18:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 17:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 13:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 12:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 09:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / juventus.com / uefa.com / talksport.com
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