Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A shock for Real..
More agony for Gareth as Dutchmen humble champions
SOUTHAMPTON reject Dusan Tadic scored one goal and made two to dump the defending champions out of the Champions League – and heap more misery on under-fire Gareth Bale.
Tadic’s two magnificent first-half passes helped Ajax take control by the break in front of shell-shocked home fans at the Bernabeu.
And his 20-yarder just after the hour drove a stake through the heart of Madrid’s dream of winning the trophy for a fourth year in a row.
Madrid were almost in front after four minutes, but Raphael Varane could not keep his header down and saw it come back off the bar.
They paid for that miss three minutes later when Ajax levelled the tie. With Madrid out of shape at the back, Tadic cleverly played in Hakim Ziyech who coolly side-footed in. The visitors were still trailing on away goals, but they started to take control of the game, and it was no surprise when they scored again after 18 minutes.
Tadic again was the provider with another superb through ball for David Neres, who rounded Thibaut Courtois to chip home.
Bale, booed at the weekend by his own fans, was sent on after half an hour to replace the injured Lucas Vazquez. Madrid’s Vinicius Junior also went down, with Marco Asensio being sent on and, three minutes from the break, Bale almost levelled the aggregate score from a Toni Kroos cross only to see his shot hit the post.
On 62 minutes, Ajax had one foot in the quarter-finals as Tadic (left) controlled a pass, moved the ball a yard to his left and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top-left corner.
A four-minute delay ensued as ref Felix Brych checked with VAR for the ball possibly being out of play for a throw-in during the build-up, but he eventually signalled for a goal.
Real were back in it when Asensio rifled one in off a post. But any belief in a miracle comeback evaporated when Lasse Schone’s free-kick sailed over Courtois’ head.