Ajax vs Juventus: Juve look a team rooted in the past - but with Cristiano Ronaldo that might still be enough

The Italian champions appear stuck trying to do just enough to win today, no matter what it means for tomorrow leaving their Portuguese talisman to bail them out

Juventus cannot be too down-hearted taking this 1-1 draw back to Turin. In the last round they lost 2-0 at Atletico Madrid, with the best defensive organisation in the world, before relying on a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick in the second leg to knock them out.

Beating Ajax next Tuesday, or even just grinding out a goalless draw, will be enough to send them back to the semi-finals. And with the draw opening up, and no one team looking impermeable, then why not dream of getting to their third final in five years?

Wednesday night’s game proved what we have all known for years, which is that in the Champions League, if you have Cristiano Ronaldo you have a chance. He is the only reason they are in the quarter-finals and he is the only reason Juventus scored in Amsterdam.

His away goal was almost an act of will, a move he started and finished, charging down the middle of the pitch to land a header of characteristic power and precision. Not many other players around would have scored that goal.

“Ronaldo proved once again he is a player of a different level,” Max Allegri said afterwards. “His timing and movement is different to everyone else.”

The real benefit to having Ronaldo, ultimately, is that Juventus can afford to do less on the pitch. Because Ronaldo is one of the most efficient goalscorers in history, a man who is guaranteed to turn service into goals. All they need to do is to get the ball to him.

But there are times watching Juventus when they look like they are doing less and less than ever before. It works for them because they still have decisive quality, but they are arguably less of a domineering force than they were back when the team with Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez, Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal reached the Berlin final in 2015.

Juventus’ only moments on Wednesday night, including the goal, came on the break. Allegri made attacking substitutions as the game went on, turning to Douglas Costa and Paulo Dybala, but it felt like too little too late.

Fundamentally it raises the question of whether Juventus need to do more or whether they can always rely on Ronaldo and counter-attacks to win them games at this level. Erik Ten Hag twice predicted that Juventus will have to be “more aggressive” in Turin, and they will be, but who knows if it even suits them to attack that much.

But when Federico Bernadeschi spoke after the game he said that Juventus were slightly jealous of Ajax, of their brilliant young players and the courage they have in playing them. While Ajax are embracing the future, Juventus still look rooted in the past, trying to do just enough to win today, no matter what it means for tomorrow.

Maybe it will work again on Tuesday but it does not feel like an approach that will last forever.