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Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo dumped out of Champions League
Ajax produced yet another stirring Champions League comeback on Tuesday, this time coming from a goal behind to beat Juventus in Turin.
With the tie finely poised after a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam, who else but Cristiano Ronaldo gave the hosts the lead, heading home from a corner after Matthijs de Ligt switched off.
But this young Ajax side often shows experience beyond its tender years and, unfazed by the setback, found the equalizer merely five minutes later.
There was an element of luck involved as Hakim Ziyech's shot deflected into Donny van de Beek's path, but the 21-year-old gathered the ball up and coolly slotted it past Wojciech Szczesny.
With 20 minutes remaining, De Ligt more than atoned for his first-half lapse in concentration and powered home a header from Lasse Schoene's corner to spark wild scenes among the traveling Ajax fans.
For a helpless and surprisingly lifeless Juventus this was a bitter pill to swallow.
The Italian giant, so dominant domestically with seven straight Serie A titles, parted with a reported $117 million to sign Ronaldo from Real Madrid with the sole intention of winning this title they so desperately crave.
The Portuguese superstar was supposed to be the missing piece of the puzzle, after two gut-wrenching Champions League final defeats in the last four years had left Juventus without a European crown since 1996.
This thrilling young Ajax side will sadly and inevitably be picked apart by Europe's biggest clubs this summer -- indeed Frenkie de Jong has already been snapped up by Barcelona -- but for now, while still together, they are producing some of the most exciting football on the continent.
Having already blitzed past three-time defending champion Real Madrid in the last round, these kids will have their fans dreaming of a first Champions League final since 1996, when they suffered defeat against tonight's opponents.
To give a sense of both how historic this achievement is for Ajax and how youthful its current team is, the last time the club reached the semifinals of the Champions League, five of tonight's starting XI weren't yet born.