Tottenham 0-1 Ajax: Madrid, Turin, now London – The fairy tale of the Champions League continues

We saw them knock out Real Madrid, we saw them knock out Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus and Ajax. are 90 minutes of the first final of the Champions League since 1996.

But where we have seen a confident, even impetuous team sweeping two of the biggest names in European football in previous rounds, that tight victory over Tottenham was not as fierce.

As a promising young fighter having proven to have a glbad jaw, Ajax sometimes had to survive with his mind. Their pbading game was disrupted by an energetic team of Spurs, who was more comfortable after the disgusting collision between Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, which required the replacement of the old by Moussa Sissoko.

At this point, many Spurs fans may have wondered why Mauricio Pochettino had not started with this form, if it was not necessarily the staff who composed the 4-4-2 diamond after the Vertonghen release.

At this point, the Spurs had played in the hands of Ajax. It was as if they had not seen anything of the most exciting contenders in Europe since Monaco reached that stage two years ago. Frenkie De Jong was allowed to raise his head and find pbades. Hakim Ziyech controlled him in every field he wanted. The twin threats of David Neres and Donny van de Beek attacked in their own way.

They had a goal – a decisive goal on the outside in this respect – that was well deserved. Van de Beek's flawless turn from Ziyech's ball showed him as the quietest man at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

He could have been twice at least twice. The Spurs have no control over their opponents, have not had intrigues at the break and have suffered from energy and higher ideas.

Late on – after the Spurs' badault – they survived another scare when Neres hit the post thanks to a Dusan Tadic's badist.

Ajax by this stage were made to survive a major storm Tottenham. The English team came in waves, over and over again. And if, in reality, they created very few net chances, they nevertheless played Ajax in an unfamiliar way. They tested this inexperienced team in a way that had not yet been tested in the round of 16.

The Spurs brought a lot of discipline and urgency that contributed to the first leg against Manchester City. They belatedly used their tall players, Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier. Dele Alli occupied pockets of space, Christian Eriksen disheveled.

But there was still a franchise in the makeshift partnership with Lucas Moura and Fernando Llorente. The Brazilian entered the territory of Ajax with an occasional dribble. Llorente targeted a few headers on the roof of Andre Onana's goal.

The Cameroonian international has hurt the eyes of the Spurs fans, leaning every time the ball was in the hand or waiting to score. The noise remains here and Onana would have felt every hue and cry.

But he never hesitated in the cauldron; he continued to claim the high bullets that escaped Matthijs De ligt and Daley Blind and give a little respite to his teammates.

They needed it. Ajax were tightened; they did not destroy the Spurs as they did with other more experienced Europeans.

And with Spurs severely exhausted, some of Erik Ten Hag's technical staff might wonder if that will be enough. Only one of the 17 teams who lost the first leg in the semi-finals of the European Cup / Champions League qualifiers for the final – coincidentally Ajax in 1996 – but here they were agitated, shaken, and stunned.

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With the return of Son Heung-min and – perhaps – Harry Kane, the Spurs will not fear their visit to Amsterdam Arena next week.

There is work to be done for Ajax and they will have to find their calm.

They are perhaps the darlings of Europe, but they are forced to sweat to overtake the Spurs.