Ronaldo's 125th goal in the Champions League and a goal on the 30th second of the second half: how Ajax and Juventus drew

Fireworks under the windows and the return of Ronaldo

Ajax has become one of the main sensations of the current season of the Champions League. The team has come an impressive way from the second qualifying round to the quarterfinal of the tournament, and at the previous stage of the playoffs knocked out of the fight the current holder of the trophy “Real”.

The next opponent of the team from the Netherlands was another favorite - Juventus, who in the 1/8 finals also showed remarkable strength of character in the confrontation with Atletico. In Madrid, the Turints gave way - 0: 2, but the houses defeated their opponent thanks to hat-trick Cristiano Ronaldo and made their way further.

In this case, until the last moment, it was unclear whether the Portuguese would be able to take part in the match at the Johan Cruyff Arena. An experienced striker was injured in a meeting with Serbia within the framework of the Euro 2020 qualification and missed a couple of weeks, but still managed to recover to the trip to the Netherlands.

However, no less formidable forward Dusan Tadic was present as part of Ajax, since it is a Serb with nine balls who is currently the top scorer of the Champions League (Ronaldo has only four). And in the return match with Real Madrid, he not only scored a goal, but also gave two assists.

But the main right back of the Amsterdam Nussayr Mazraoui in that game received the third yellow card and earned an automatic disqualification for the first quarter-final match. Due to injuries, defenders Martin Caceres and Andrea Barzagli could not help Juventus.

The only spoonful of tar on the eve of the most interesting confrontation was the riots that were staged by fans of both teams. To begin with, local football fans organized under the windows of the hotel, where the guests stopped, a two-hour salute to prevent the Turin team’s football players from getting enough sleep before the match.

True, it was not possible to prevent the inhospitable hosts from competitors, since those, as it turned out, were settled in the other wing of the hotel.

Fans of “Juve” did not remain in debt and made skirmishes with the local police. As a result, 120 people were detained.

De Ligt's record and illogical goal

However, the beginning of the match was quite calm. Juventus, bearing in mind how Ajax likes to suppress opponents in the first minutes, immediately tried to take the ball under control and put the opponent to sleep with combinations in his own half of the field.

The hosts soon still managed to regain the initiative, but the Amsterdam players didn’t look as powerful in the opening as they did in the home game with the same “Real”. “Juventus” allowed the opponent to possess the ball, but defended traditionally skillfully and reliably. Often, Eric Ten Hag's wards had to go to the flanks, from where it was more difficult to create danger, while the center did not allow the Turinians to run up fast and technical players.

It is not surprising that Ajax created most of its moments after strikes from outside the penalty area. So, in the middle of the inning, Hakim Ziyash was dangerously hitting under the crossbar, but Wojciech Schensny turned the ball over to the corner. But in another episode, Donnie van de Beck ended up with the ball almost at a penalty spot, but simply did not hit the target.

“Juventus” for the time being did not create anything dangerous. The defense of "Ajax", led by Mathays de Ligt, calmly coped with Ronaldo and the company. By the way, the 19-year-old defender became the youngest captain in the history of the Champions League quarterfinal matches.

It seemed that the first half would end without scored goals, but just before the break, the Turints managed to score a goal that did not flow from the logic of the meeting. The relaxed players of Ajax allowed the guests to attack in the center, and João Cancela completed the perfect overhang into the penalty area for Ronaldo, who could only punch through the goalkeeper. In this case, Cristiano did not interfere with anyone.

Thus, the Portuguese scored the fifth goal in the current Champions League draw and the 125th in the 161st match of the tournament.

Quick hosts ball and bar from Costa

As unexpected as the Juventus ball turned out, the return goal of Ajax was so quick. In fact, to hit the opponent's gate after the break, the hosts took only 30 seconds. They played a shell in the center of the field and brought it to their own goalkeeper. Then followed the removal of the left flank and a gross mistake Kanselu, who literally laid out the ball to Neres.

David took advantage of this blot with pleasure: he made an impressive race on the sidelines, entered the penalty area and accurately shot into the far corner - 1: 1.

Having equalized the score, the Amsterdam citizens got a boost of self-confidence and began to attack even more aggressively. Technical players of Ajax made combinations right next to someone else's penalty area, and it seemed that the defense of the opponent was about to falter.

However, the attacks of the Dutch team clearly lacked speed and space. The guests, as in the first half, sat tightly on the defensive and did not give the opponent a single square meter. As a result, the host team often went just for the sake of the program - the Italian team failed to crack the sated defense.

In addition, Massimililly Allegri refreshed the line of attack and threw Douglas Costa into the battle, and then Paulo Dibalu. True, the fact that to score more, turintsy and did not insist. Ronaldo in the second half was not at all noticeable. The Portuguese almost did not meet with the ball and lost all the riding skills of De Ligt. Perhaps this match was for Cristiano one of the worst for the last time, but he scored the ball.

The meeting ended in a logical draw as a result, but in the end both teams missed one dangerous moment. First, who replaced 19-year-old Jurgen Ekkelenkamp had a good opportunity to punch from outside the penalty area, but sent the ball at a convenient height for Schensny and almost in the center. And then Costa made a leap on the left flank in the style of Neres, entered the penalty area and shot into the far post.

Thus, luck didn’t smile at any of the teams, and the fate of the trips to the semifinals will be decided in Turin, although Juventus will arrange a goalless draw in the second leg.