Ajax showcase their pure class in first leg win over Tottenham

The Dutch giants beat an injury-riddled Tottenham side 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday, scoring a crucial away goal as they head back to Amsterdam next week.

Ajax has been extremely impressive this entire Champions League campaign, upsetting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarterfinals and also beating the current title holders in the round of 16, Real Madrid. This team has been the talk of Europe thanks to their young, energetic style of play.

They impressed once again on Tuesday, leaving England with a huge 1-0 victory over a Spurs team that is missing their two best attackers, Harry Kane, and Heung Min Son. Kane is out for the year but Son will be back for the second leg in Amsterdam so it was very important for Ajax to get a solid result from this first leg, especially on the road. With Son back, he could definitely bring some more quality to the Tottenham attack as he did against Manchester City in the quarterfinals so this was a very big win for the Dutch side.

Amazing ball movement and awareness of one another

As they have in every match so far in the late stages of this year’s Champions League campaign, Ajax put their class on full display once again. They controlled the majority of the first half, constantly forming triangles and making short, compact passes as they moved into the final third. They seem so in-sync with each other, always knowing where a teammate is whether they decide to send a through ball or just make a simple pass.

Their goal is a perfect example of their beautiful ball movement. David Neres brings the ball up on the left flank, cuts in and finds Lasse Schone at the top of the 18-yard box. He then slides a short pass to Ziyech, who finds Van de Beek in an onside position in between the Tottenham defenders. The rest is easy, and he puts it in the net past Hugo Lloris:

Here is another example of their breathtaking control of the game. They see there isn’t a lot of opportunities to get into the final third on the right side of the pitch. With this being the case, Ziyech switches play quickly towards the left to Tagliafico. He makes a short pass into the box towards Van de Beek, who dummies it and makes a run behind the defender. Tadic puts a perfect ball through to him, but he’s stopped by Lloris:

They seldom waste their time with through balls in their air. Everything is always on the ground, which is definitely the most productive. Having the likes of Frenkie de Jong in the midfield is very instrumental, but they also have a wonderful frontline of Tadic, Neres, and Ziyech.

This entire squad plays extremely well together and they have proven all year-long that it doesn’t matter who the opponent is, their ability to move the ball up the field with short and smart passes is superior.

This is their year to try to win some hardware because chances are a handful of this squad will move on to bigger European clubs in the summer, such as Neres, Ziyech, and de Jong, who is already heading to Barcelona.

I truly do believe they have a legitimate shot of winning Europe’s most coveted trophy. They have proven time and time again this year that they’re a side who is not afraid of anyone and have more than enough quality in all aspects of the game to win it all.

The second leg of the Semifinals against Tottenham will take place next Wednesday in Amsterdam.