Dutch side take the advantage in Champions League semi as Spurs lose at home
FORGET Total Football. This was Total Control. Tottenham have been schooled, with Ajax dishing out a football education with a masterful, measured performance. They were too clever, too cute, too intricate for these Tottenham darlings in a ridiculously one-sided first leg. Young Donny van de Beek scored the winner when he gave Hugo Lloris the […]
FORGET Total Football. This was Total Control.
Tottenham have been schooled, with Ajax dishing out a football education with a masterful, measured performance.
They were too clever, too cute, too intricate for these Tottenham darlings in a ridiculously one-sided first leg.
Young Donny van de Beek scored the winner when he gave Hugo Lloris the eyes before picking his spot just 15 minutes in.
Frankly, Ajax will be disappointed to only get the one.
Spurs were panic-stricken, error-strewn and trying to play Premier League football in treacherous Champions League territory.
It was naïve, costly and chaotic. They turned physical in the second half, trying to bully these young boys into submission.
Ajax, average age 24, predictably stuck to their legendary principles: it the only way they know.
There is another 90 minutes to go in this tie, with these patched up Spurs players travelling to the Amsterdam Arena for the second leg on Wednesday.
It is still worth going because their fans can sit in cafes eating space cakes and visiting, ahem, De Wallen.
AIMING HIGH
The red light is on, with danger ahead after Spurs were beaten on home turf by this outstanding Ajax team.
Nobody should be surprised because they are unbeaten on the road in the Champions League, and have already seen off Juventus and Real Madrid.
Spurs are still in this, but it is going to need the tactical nous and acumen of a battleship commander to reach the final.
This club have been doing the Champions League thing for years now, but they never fully got to grips with Ajax.
The rallying second half, when Sissoko started storming through the Ajax midfield, lifted spirits.
Then there was the delayed pass from Ajax old boy Christian Eriksen into the feet of the onrushing Danny Rose.
His shot was blocked, going down as another near miss on a hugely frustrating night.
They know that Ajax could have had more, with a chance from young Brazilian winger David Neres’ cannoning of the post of Lloris 12 minutes from time.
Enjoy these Dutch boys wearing these famous shirts before they are all spirited away by the big spenders in the summer.
This was a sensational way to approach a Champions League semi-final.
The quality filling those famous Ajax shirts was obvious from the off.
You will never tire of watching Frenkie de Jong’s super slo-mo touch off the outside of his boot, spinning softly through the air like a tennis ball towards Joel Veltman.
Then there is Matthijs de Ligt’s reading of the game, with more than a hint of Beckenbauer about his anticipation and awareness.
YOUNG GUNS
Or Donny’s dummy after 25 minutes, when he sent the Spurs defence hurtling down the High Road before Lloris got down well to save with his feet.
By that point, it looked like it would be a 0-3 Ajax night.
They were moving the ball at ridiculous speeds, toying with Tottenham with their ruthless, compelling passing and possession stats.
After half an hour, they had 67 per cent of the ball and had played 225 passes to Tottenham’s 115. Wow.
Even more remarkable is that even when Ajax scored, it did not even cross their minds to sit back and defend their lead.
An away goal to the good in a Champions League semi-final, most clubs would sit back and soak up a bit of Spurs pressure.
It never came, not really.
Instead Ajax just boxed Poch’s players inside their penalty area and turned them into statues.
These dummies needed a word in the ear from Poch, something to bring them to life on their big night.
CAUGHT OUT
They were on the ropes, with Jan Vertonghen needing treatment when he was floored after colliding with team-mate Toby Alderweireld.
Tottenham nearly made the 10 count.
It forced Poch to make a sub, to accelerate his plans to bring on Moussa Sissoko just 38 minutes in.
Vertonghen, like Spurs, was in bad shape.
On another day, you would not normally bother to record Fernando Llorente or Alderweireld sending free headers over the bar.
In the spirit of things, given that 55,000 people turned up to watch Tottenham, they need a mention.
Even Sissoko’s drive on the stroke of half-time, flying wildly past Andre Onana’s goal, goes down as a chance: no chance.
Back to the Ajax goal then, scored after 15 minutes when their blinding movement and lighting pace dizzied Tottenham’s defence.
Hakim Ziyech played the final pass, with van de Beek receiving it and then rolling it out from under his studs to pick his spot.
The Ajax midfielder is Toni Kroos, with wheels.
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Say it we must because young – that word again – van de Beek is yet another graduate from their fabled de Toekomst academy.
The midfielder, 22, added a few more noughts to his transfer fee with this eye-catching performance.
Spurs got a big fat zero.
