Ajax stunned Juventus to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 1997 as Matthijs de Ligt’s thumping second-half header secured a 2-1 second-leg victory in the last eight in Turin.
Cristiano Ronaldo, bidding for his sixth Champions League title, scored a 28th-minute header to put Juve ahead after a 1-1 first-leg draw, but Donny van de Beek levelled for Ajax before half-time.
Teenage centre-back De Ligt struck midway through the second period, though, to seal a 3-2 aggregate win and set up a last-four clash with either Manchester City or Tottenham.
The young Dutch side had already eliminated three-time defending champions Real Madrid en route to the quarters, overturning a 2-1 home defeat against the Spanish side with a memorable 4-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Juventus had been looking to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in the past five seasons.
⛔ – @Cristiano in quarter-finals
❌ Juventus 18/19
✔️ Real Madrid 17/18
✔️ Real Madrid 16/17
✔️ Real Madrid 15/16
✔️ Real Madrid 14/15
✔️ Real Madrid 13/14
✔️ Real Madrid 12/13
✔️ Real Madrid 11/12
✔️ Real Madrid 10/11
✔️ Man United 08/09
✔️ Man United 07/08
✔️ Man United 06/07— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) April 16, 2019
Lionel Messi pounced on two Manchester United mistakes to score twice and end their hopes of another Camp Nou comeback as Barcelona breezed into the Champions League semi-finals.
Messi now has his 109th and 110th Champions League goals and, potentially, three extra matches to reduce the gap on Cristiano Ronaldo’s 126, after Juventus were dumped out by Ajax. Barcelona’s fans celebrated that too.
