Juventus vs Ajax: Five things we learned as Matthijs de Ligt stuns Cristiano Ronaldo’s side in Turin

Juventus 1-2 Ajax (2-3): The Italian champions are out after another stunning performance from Erik ten Hag’s side

Ajax pulled off another great Champions League upset, stunning Italian champions Juventus 2-1 in a heroic performance in Turin.

Cristiano Ronaldo had initially capped a strong start for Juve with a glancing header from a corner. However, Erik ten Hag’s brilliant young side responded just six minutes later as Danny Van de Beek sidefooted into the far corner.

And then it was Ajax who outclassed the Italian’s in a lopsided second-half and, fittingly, it was their 19-year-old talismanic captain, Matthijs de Ligt, who rose to the corner to score the decisive winner.

Juventus poured on the pressure late on, but to no avail and the Dutch side’s improbable fairy tale European campaign kicks into yet another gear.

Here are five things we learned from the game.

Juventus prepare for Ajax’s early burst of pace

Last week’s first-leg fizzed by in a 100mph blur as Juventus crucially clung on in a one-sided game. On that occasion, in Amsterdam’s bear pit, the Italian champions simply couldn’t keep up with the frenetic nature of this young Dutch side, rocked to their heels throughout the game until Cristiano Ronaldo’s divine intervention.

But this time, at home in Turin, Juventus were –albeit initially – braced and ready for the early burst they would face and matched Ajax stride-for-stride in a first-half every bit as relentless as last week's. Each team pressed and harried in possession, both stole glimpses at the opponent’s goal in a tense first-half but it was Max Allegri’s side who had established a foothold they never quite managed to muster last week.

Their ultimate downfall after taking the lead was that they could not keep it up.

Classic Ronaldo compounds the error

It was the epitome of this modern 30-plus poaching extraordinaire version of Cristiano Ronaldo. A corner in the 26th minute and every Ajax player was aware that the Portuguese talisman was the player they had to, at all costs, stay aware of.

At first, he lingered at the back-post, hanging off the last defender as he attempted to find anonymity. But the moment the corner began to swing in, he arced in the longest route to meet it at the near post. Of course, he was best poised. Of course, he leapt highest. And right on cue the ball glanced past Andre Onana in the Ajax goal and Juventus had the lead.

Ajax had seen it coming, any football prophesier who’d so much as glimpsed Ronaldo over the course of this first season in Italy knew what was coming. Still they were unable to stop it.

Ronaldo put Juventus ahead (AFP/Getty Images)

Ajax show their resilience to bounce back

The greatest testament to this Ajax side was that the way in which they bounced back, just six minutes after Ronaldo struck, didn’t come by any means as a surprise. It’s the brazen belief, the skill that had already showered Sergio Ramos and co. in embarrassment this season. So, despite not having looked entirely settled until going behind, they responded in emphatic fashion.

Hakim Ziyech, the star of the first-leg, chanced a long-range strike across the face of goal, and Donny van de Beek, perched on the edge of the 18-yard line nonchalantly took the ball under control with a single deft touch and passed it into the bottom corner. It was cool, clinical and like that they were not only back in the game, but had decimated Juve’s away goal advantage.

Spellbinding second-half start

If Juventus had managed to keep pace with Ajax in the first-half, for the second they were simply wound under a thumb and into a spell. For 20 minutes, the Italian’s could barely touch the ball and were surviving only by the skin of their teet; a last-gasp tackle from Miralem Pjanic and a pair of fine saves from Wojciech Szczesny.

The dominance of Frenkie de Jong – who only made the squad through a desperate late fitness test, Ziyech, David Neres, Dusan Tadic was a sight to behold. Having taken it to Real Madrid and then Juventus, you have to wonder when you can stop referring to a team capable of such spectacular football as the underdogs. Never for a second in such a one-sided period did Ajax ever look like a team who would leave Turin without a the win.

Captain De Ligt scores the winner (Getty)

The dagger to match their desire

They outran, outwilled and outskilled. They were the superior side, just as in the first leg, and of that there could be no question. This time though, Ajax had the dagger to match their desire. The clinical edge to reap rewards from their pressure and take the tie into their hands. It was everything they deserved.

A truly magical side determined to end in glory before its star names depart. Frenkie de Jong, who was brilliant and untouchable in midfield, is on his way to Barcelona. But this time it was their 19-year-old captain, Matthijs de Ligt, who is also dead set to leave Amsterdam this season, who after bullying Ronaldo for much of the game, recreated the Portuguese’s leap to glance home the goal which would secure Ajax another famous Champions League victory.