Ajax lets golden point slip at the last minute against provoked Liverpool | Ajax in Champions League

By Johan Inan

As good as Ajax seemed in the past month, the national champion appeared so fragile in the atmospheric football cathedral of Liverpool. In it, one Mo (Kudus) beautifully brushed away the opening goal of the other Mo (Salah), but the champion also spent the next hour in his own goal mouth. There, the gasping visitors got the lid on Joël Matip’s nose in the final minute.

Seven previous matches did not cause Ajax as many problems as one duel at Anfield. The champion arrived there after a handful of clean sheets, thirteen goals in the last three matches and above all, flashy football, in which the most expensive purchases Calvin Bassey and Steven Bergwijn, but also (re)fitted talents such as Devyne Rensch and Kenneth Taylor, shone.

Many questions have already been answered in the past month. Certainly nationally, where many forecasts predicting a changing of the guard at the top were already thrown into the trash. But after a walkover against the poor Rangers FC, hardly anything meaningful could be said about what Ajax is capable of in Europe this time. Yes, Ajax flashed before halftime, but to determine whether there is a real stunt team in it again, the transformed team really had to be subjected to a serious test case.

On a steaming Anfield, against a giant that has devoured just about all of Europe in recent years, Schreuder stepped on the scales for the first time with his still clear team and the outstanding newcomers. And what kind of one, because it immediately became apparent that the somewhat battered and wandering Liverpool had Ajax pass the exam on all possible fronts.

Physically, with an air force and endlessly sprinting flank players. Mentally, in a stifling football temple. Tactical, with an opponent who effortlessly creates surpluses and turned pressure almost into an art form. And technically, because of the individual class of a gifted playmaker like Thiago, who immediately turned the game to his will and set the pace and rhythm.

The battered and previously errant Liverpool was especially vexed to the bone against Ajax after the humiliation in Naples (‘the weakest match under my leadership’, said Klopp) last week. The Reds had no choice either. In the event of a defeat, the ticket for the knockout phase, which had previously been a formality, with three final places in the past five years, faltered.

The storm that Schreuder expected, came. Just when Ajax seemed to be gasping for breath for the first time, things went wrong. Jurriën Timber lost an aerial duel, Calvin Bassey and especially Daley Blind let Mohamed Salah escape, who slid in the 1-0.

Ajax struck at the first decent outbreak. It started with a nice cross by Daley Blind to Steven Berghuis. His pass was brought to Mohammed Kudus by Bergwijn. Ajax’s false striker, who was once again preferred over Brian Brobbey, fired the 1-1 in through the bottom of the bar and brought 2650 fans into ecstasy.

But then Ajax was far from there, because Liverpool’s attacking drive took on greater and greater shape. The saves that Pasveer made before halftime (including on a header by Virgil van Dijk) turned out to be only a breeze compared to the tsunami that Ajax had to deal with in the second half.

The team that until now invariably surrounded opponents suddenly found itself in a handball defence. If it got the ball, it was lost that way. Illustrative: Ajax only scored three goals on the billiard cloth. The lowest number in nineteen years in the royal class.

In one of those attempts, fifteen minutes before the end, Blind forgot to crown his milestone of one hundred European duels. A draw would have been a miracle, let alone a win. Points of light were barely visible. Yes, Pasveer.

And Rensch? He was released from his misery with a spasm. bassey? The mandekker made a nervous impression. mountain wine? The cannon was nowhere to be seen, as virtually no fielder reached his level. Schreuder mentioned guts as the key word, but Ajax mainly looked anxious and sloppy, which makes you wonder whether the coach with more courage in his substitutions, which took place rather late, could not have taken the team out of the hold.

Ajax was outplayed and was presented with the bill for this. Matip towered over Timber, after which he saw his header turned by the also poor playing Dusan Tadic. The ref looked at his clock and then pointed to the center spot, causing Anfield to explode and Ajax to let a golden point slip.

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