The Night Ajax Reclaims Their European Soul

For 1,012 days, Real Madrid had been champions of Europe.

Three consecutive Champions League trophies had turned supremacy into routine. They had survived Juventus, Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool. They had won matches they appeared destined to lose and ties in which their opponents had seemed, for long stretches, the better side. Europe had become their territory.

Then Ajax arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Ninety minutes later, Madrid's empire was gone.

Not gradually. Not controversially. Not through a fortunate deflection or a desperate late goal.

It was dismantled.

Real Madrid 1, Ajax 4. Ajax advance 5–3 on aggregate.

Hakim Ziyech scored the first. David Neres added the second. Dušan Tadić, producing one of the great individual Champions League performances, drove the third into the top corner. Lasse Schöne completed the humiliation with an extraordinary free-kick.

The four goals told the story of the evening, but the scoreline alone cannot explain what happened here.

Ajax did not simply eliminate the three-time defending European champions. They came to Madrid and played as though they had remembered who they were. And to understand why that matters, it is necessary to go back nine years.

2010: The Night Ajax Realised How Far They Had Fallen

In September 2010, Ajax also walked into the Santiago Bernabéu. The circumstances could hardly have been more different.

José Mourinho's Real Madrid contained Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Mesut Özil, Ángel Di María and Karim Benzema. Ajax, under Martin Jol, were returning to the Champions League group stage after years away from Europe's highest level.

Historically, the fixture represented aristocracy against aristocracy.

In reality, it represented something else.

Madrid won 2–0.

The score flattered Ajax.

It could have been six. It might have been eight.

For Johan Cruyff, watching what had become of the club that once represented his footballing philosophy to the world, the defeat was intolerable.

Writing afterwards in De Telegraaf, Cruyff attacked not merely the performance but the institution behind it. Ajax, he believed, had drifted away from the principles that had made it Ajax: youth development, technical excellence, attacking football and an organisation built around football people.

The defeat in Madrid became a symbol of that decline.

What followed became known as Ajax's Velvet Revolution!

Cruyff demanded structural change. Former players had to return to positions of influence. The academy had to become the centre of the institution again. Ajax could not compete financially with Europe's superclubs, so it would have to compete intellectually.

The objective was not nostalgia.

It was identity.

Nine years later, Ajax returned to the same stadium.

And this time, Madrid encountered the consequences.

The Architecture of a Renaissance

The rebuilding of Ajax was neither quick nor linear.

Frank de Boer restored domestic authority, ending a seven-year Eredivisie title drought in 2011 and eventually winning four consecutive championships.

Former players increasingly occupied important positions within the organisation. Edwin van der Sar moved into the club's hierarchy and eventually became chief executive. Marc Overmrs took responsibility for football operations.

Most importantly, Ajax rediscovered the value of De Toekomst — The Future”, their academy.

But the modern Ajax could not survive through academy graduates alone.

That is perhaps the most interesting feature of the side that destroyed Madrid tonight.

It represents a fusion of two ideas.

Ajax still develop players.

But they have also become extraordinarily good at identifying players elsewhere who can function within Ajax football.

 

Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek are products of the academy. Frenkie de Jong was acquired young from Willem II. Hakim Ziyech came from Twente. David Neres arrived from São Paulo. And Dušan Tadić, after years in the Premier League with Southampton, was brought to Amsterdam at 29.

Different journeys.

One footballing language.

The transformation accelerated after Cruyff died in 2016. Peter Bosz took Ajax to the 2017 Europa League final with a young, fearless team whose style felt unmistakably Ajax.

Manchester United defeated them in Stockholm, but something important had returned.

Ajax were relevant in Europe again.

Erik ten Hag inherited that foundation in December 2017 and has taken the idea further.

Tonight was its greatest expression.

A Defeat in Amsterdam That Didn't Feel Like Defeat

There was already evidence in the first leg that Madrid were in danger.

Ajax lost 2–1 in Amsterdam three weeks ago, but anyone who watched that match understood how misleading the result was.

Ajax pressed Madrid, moved the ball quickly and repeatedly created difficulties for Santiago Solari's side.

Nicolás Tagliafico even appeared to give Ajax the lead, only for VAR to disallow the goal — the first Champions League goal ever overturned by the technology.

Karim Benzema eventually put Madrid ahead.

Ziyech equalised.

Then Marco Asensio scored late to give Madrid a 2–1 victory.

History suggested the tie was finished.

No team had previously progressed in the European Cup or Champions League after losing the first leg 2–1 at home.

Sergio Ramos certainly seemed to believe it was over.

Already carrying a booking, the Madrid captain deliberately collected another late yellow card, apparently intending to serve his suspension in the second leg and return with his record cleared for the quarter-finals.

Instead, Ramos watched tonight from the stands

There will be few more painful places from which to witness the collapse of an empire.

Seven Minutes

Ajax needed at least two goals. They needed only 18 minutes to find them. The first arrived after seven.

Toni Kroos was dispossessed. Ajax immediately attacked the space.

Tadić accelerated down the right and pulled the ball back intelligently.

Ziyech arrived.

One touch.

Finish.

0–1.

Suddenly, the Bernabéu understood.

This was no ceremonial second leg.

Ajax believed.

Madrid looked frightened.

And then came the second.

The Turn

There are actions in football that matter beyond the goal they eventually create.

Tadić's contribution to Ajax's second belonged to that category.

Receiving the ball with Casemiro close behind him, the Serbian produced a roulette — the kind of turn forever associated in this stadium with Zinedine Zidane.

One movement eliminated Madrid's defensive midfielder.

Tadić accelerated. Then came the pass. Perfect weight. Perfect timing. Neres ran behind Madrid's defence, rounded Thibaut Courtois and rolled the ball into the net.

0–2.

Ajax were ahead in the tie.

The Bernabéu fell into disbelief.

There was symbolism everywhere.

A visiting player had performed a Zidane turn inside Zidane's old stadium before assisting the goal that placed Madrid's Champions League reign on the edge of extinction.

But Ajax's superiority was not built on symbolism.

It was tactical.

Ten Hag's Ajax: Controlled Chaos

Ajax's formation can be written as a 4–2–3–1.

That explains very little.

With the ball, the structure constantly changes.

Tadić is nominally the centre-forward but refuses to behave like a conventional No.9. He drops into midfield, moves towards the flanks and creates spaces for Neres, Ziyech and Van de Beek to attack.

Van de Beek does the opposite.

Nominally the No.10, he frequently becomes the highest player.

Ziyech moves inside from the right. Neres stretches the defence before attacking diagonally. Behind them, Frenkie de Jong controls the rhythm. The consequence is positional uncertainty for the opposition. Madrid's defenders repeatedly faced the same question:

Who exactly are we supposed to mark?

Follow Tadić and space appears behind. Remain deep and Tadić receives between the lines. Track Van de Beek and midfield spaces open. Move towards Ziyech and Mazraoui can advance. Ajax were not attacking positions. They were attacking spaces. That distinction defined the match.

Frenkie Against the Ballon d'Or

At the centre of everything was Frenkie de Jong.

Barcelona have already secured his signature for next season, and tonight offered an explanation for why.

Against a midfield containing Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos and Casemiro, De Jong appeared entirely comfortable.

He received possession under pressure. He turned away from challenges. He carried the ball through Madrid's midfield. At one point he sent Modrić, the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, the wrong way with a piece of control that seemed almost insolent. But De Jong's brilliance is not primarily decorative. His great quality is that he changes the geometry of possession. Where another midfielder sees pressure, he sees an exit.

Where another sees an opponent, he sees space behind the opponent.

That ability allowed Ajax to escape Madrid's pressure and attack before the home side could reorganise.

Madrid had experience.

Ajax had movement.

Tonight, movement won.

The Third Goal: Ajax in One Move

Madrid attempted to respond after half-time.

The crowd finally found its voice. Benzema threatened. Asensio attacked.

For several minutes, there was the possibility that Madrid might produce another of those European recoveries that have become almost part of the mythology of this stadium.

Then Ajax scored again.

The move began deep inside their own half. Noussair Mazraoui fought to keep the ball alive near the touchline. Ajax escaped. Ziyech became involved.

Van de Beek moved into space.

The ball reached Tadić outside the penalty area.

He looked up and struck.

The shot flew beyond Courtois and into the top corner.

0–3.

For several seconds, however, nobody knew whether it counted.

VAR examined whether the ball had gone out of play earlier in the move.

Referee Felix Brych waited.

The stadium waited.

Ajax waited.

Finally, Brych pointed towards the centre circle.

Goal.

And with that gesture, Madrid's European reign effectively ended.

Dušan Tadić's Masterpiece

If Ajax collectively produced a masterpiece, Tadić was its principal artist. He assisted the first goal. He created the second after humiliating Casemiro with the roulette. He scored the third. But even those numbers fail to describe his influence. Tadić was simultaneously Ajax's centre-forward, playmaker and escape route. Madrid's centre-backs could not decide whether to follow him into midfield. Casemiro could not consistently control him in the middle of the pitch. When Tadić drifted wide, Ajax created overloads. When he dropped centrally, Neres and Ziyech attacked the spaces he abandoned.

It was an extraordinary interpretation of the false-nine role.

A player Southampton were willing to sell last summer has just orchestrated the destruction of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Sometimes recruitment is about buying the most expensive player.

Ajax's model asks a different question:

Which player makes our football possible?

Tonight, Tadić was the answer.

Madrid's Last Resistance

Marco Asensio eventually gave Madrid something.

His goal made it 1–3 and, momentarily, offered the Bernabéu the possibility of another impossible recovery.

Ajax's response was almost cruel.

They won a free-kick near the left touchline. Lasse Schöne stood over it. From that angle, everyone expected a cross. Schöne struck towards goal instead. The ball bent above Courtois and dropped into the far corner.

1–4.

Courtois looked back.

The Ajax supporters exploded.

The tie was finished.

Madrid had been beaten.

More than beaten.

Outplayed.

The End of Madrid's Empire? Time to Rethink the Strategies

The speed of Real Madrid's collapse is extraordinary. Within a week at the Bernabéu, they have effectively lost three competitions. Barcelona eliminated them from the Copa del Rey. Barcelona then defeated them again in La Liga, extinguishing realistic hopes of a title challenge. Now Ajax have removed them from Europe.

Three home defeats - An aggregate score of 8–1!

Lucas Vázquez and Vinícius Júnior were forced off injured tonight. Gareth Bale finished the match limping. Raphaël Varane struck the crossbar. Bale hit the post. Nacho was sent off in stoppage time.

Solari could point to misfortune.

But explanations should not obscure the fundamental truth.

Ajax were better - Faster in thought. Sharper in possession. More coherent without the ball. More courageous. More alive.

Madrid's problems run deeper than one night.

Cristiano Ronaldo is in Turin. Zinedine Zidane is gone. The midfield that controlled Europe looks exhausted. The psychological authority that once seemed to overwhelm opponents has disappeared. A generation may have reached its end.

2018-19 turns out to be a nightmare for Los Blancos.

It’s time to rethink the strategies so that the nightmare doesn't drag on! 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar