Juventus 1-2 Ajax: Ronaldo's bet to 341 million euros Bianconeri fails in a catastrophic leap of the Champions League

The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in Turin last summer was supposed to herald the start of the Champions League dominance over Juventus, after so many calls from close. These expensive plans – costing a total of 341 million euros (£ 294 million) in salaries and transfer fees – were left in pieces on Tuesday, while Ajax is imposed to prove that only one player can ever form a team.

Death, taxes and Ronaldo are imposing at a party in the Champions League. Life has very little certainty for all of us, but seeing the Portuguese take a leading role when it is needed most in European competition is about as close to reality as possible.

So when the tournament's top scorer and his savior against Atletico Madrid gave the advantage to their head to give the advantage to his team in the first period, helped by Matthijs' Ligt & # 39; s unfortunate fall – the script seemed to have been written. The fairy tale of Ajax seemed about to end thanks to the supreme talents of Juve's talisman.

Ajax, however, refused to play a secondary role. After attempting to take the initiative during the 45 minutes following the opening of the match, the Netherlands paused when Donny van de Beek received the ball in happy loneliness at the start of the match. inside the surface. The midfielder impeccably finished leveling at 2-2 overall, leaving the tie poised on a knife as both teams returned to the locker room for halftime.

After showing a reluctance to go ahead that is almost inexplicable given the range of stars at their disposal, Juve were plunged into a dilemma.

Open the game and run the risk of getting mixed up with dangerous visitors, or keep stacking the men behind the ball and wait for Ronaldo to come to the rescue?

Despite Moise Kean's entry to give his team a more direct path to the goal, the answer was overwhelmingly the second option. Juve were played out of the park by a team from Ajax who outperformed them both in ambition and in execution and only two remarkable interventions by Wojciech Szczesny in goals kept the score level.

But Juve N ° 1 could not do anything when the Ajax attack finally bore fruit. Having lost Ronaldo in goal goal ligt made amends by standing up majestically to meet Lbade Schone's corner and send support to the outside in ecstasy.

The demoralized Italians certainly could not go back, but their 23 year wait for a Champions League title will be delayed for at least another season.

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Nothing must be taken away from the victorious Eredivisie team, who proved decisively on both legs that his incredible reversal of Real Madrid, the defending champion, was no accident. Juventus have never had the upper hand over their rival, who has produced a brilliant football that has earned him a deserved place in the last four.

The lesson of this quarterfinal is impossible to escape, however. Ronaldo gave everything for his new club, scoring in both matches to keep him in the running. Mbadimiliano Allegri's men seem to have forgotten along the way that it is probably teams rather than individuals who win big trophies, which Mbadimiliano Allegri's men seem to forget. .

There is no shortcut to success at this level. Even with the hitman who breaks all records, Juve were Tasteless and predictable and it must now rebuild after a Champions League campaign that promised so much, never managed to ignite and now ends with the most pitiful moans.