Ajax skipper shocked by Juve victory

AJAX captain Matthijs de Ligt said he was lost for words after his wonderful header dumped Juventus out of the Champions League on Tuesday in a “bizarre” 3-2 aggregate win.

The young Dutch side backed up their 4-1 humbling of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the last 16 by stunning Cristiano Ronaldo and Juve 2-1 in Turin. The four-time winners will face either Manchester City or Tottenham in their first last-four appearance since 1997.

“It’s bizarre, it’s not normal. I have no words for it,” the 19year-old De Ligt said. “We have shown once again that we are strong and that we can make it difficult for large teams.

“We have beaten Real and Juventus, two intended title candidates. I wasn’t born the last time we reached the semis.”

Ronaldo put Juve ahead before Donny van de Beek quickly levelled, and De Ligt finished the job in the 67th minute.

“I was going a bit crazy because we couldn’t convert any of the chances,” De Ligt said.

Frenkie de Jong, who capped another strong display in midfield, said, “In the first half they were slightly better and deserved to take the lead. But we dominated after the break and were well worth our victory.”

(AFP)