Real Madrid 1 - 4 Ajax - The Biggest Upset In UCL History?

Ajax Run Riot as Tadic Silences Bernabeu

The Champions League is infamous for producing upsets on the largest scale, as complacent favourites come unstuck against underestimated underdogs time and time again. This year’s competition has been no exception; most notably Liverpool’s shock loss to Red Star Belgrade in the group stage, and Inter Milan’s failure to beat PSV that saw them eliminated altogether.

However, arguably the biggest shock of the tournament happened on Tuesday in Madrid, when Ajax not only defeated but dominated 13-time champions Real Madrid as Dusan Tadic ran the show, scoring one and assisting a further two as the Real defence failed to cope with the Serbian playmaker in the absence of talismanic captain Sergio Ramos. Ramos himself was left red-faced as he watched on from the stands, after admitting that he intentionally got himself suspended for the 2^nd leg against Ajax in order to avoid being banned for a more important game later in the competition, of which Real will play no further part.

Ajax, despite matching their Spanish counterparts in the first leg in terms of performance, had come away from Amsterdam trailing 2-1, making them overwhelming underdogs despite Real’s inconsistent form in Europe this season. But it was Hakim Ziyech who opened the scoring for the visitors after just 7 minutes, the Moroccan international profiting off some sloppy defending after Toni Kroos had carelessly given the ball away in his own half.

The Dutch side’s lead was doubled before 20 minutes when Tadic produced a sublime piece of skill, rouletting around Casemiro then dissecting the Madrid back line to leave winger David Neres one-on-one with Thibaut Courtois. There was nothing the Madrid keeper could do as Neres rounded the Belgian and slotted into the open goal to give Ajax a convincing lead going into half-time.

All Madrid needed to get back level on aggregate was a single goal, but even in the second half they remained passive and unthreatening, as the players, many of whom have guided the club to three Champions League titles in a row, seemed to crumble under the pressure. An Ajax victory, something which seemed impossible before kick-off, was now inevitable with much of the second half still to play, and it took Dusan Tadic’s curling effort into the top left corner of the net after 62 minutes for the Galacticos to finally realise the severity of the situation, but by that point Ajax were 3 goals up and out of reach.

Marco Asensio offered some hope for the home side when his effort from just outside the box reduced the deficit to two, but Ajax’s three-goal cushion was restored just 2 minutes later when Lasse Schone scored arguably the best goal of the night and the competition so far when his cross-come-shot from the left wing dipped into the far corner and sent the travelling supporters into delirium.

The final whistle condemned Real to their earliest elimination in the competition since 2010, and the pressure will be ramped up on interim manager Santiago Solari as poor domestic form means that Madrid’s season is effectively over in March. Although Solari has a contract with the club until 2021, few can see him lasting beyond this season, and the same could be said for a number of Real’s players as this humiliating defeat seems to signal the end of an era for the European giants.

Madrid in Real trouble

Madrid’s rapid demise has been baffling in the sense that when they lose, they tend to get thrashed, losing 3-0 at home to CSKA Moscow earlier in the Champions league, their heaviest home defeat in Europe ever, as well as 3-0 and 5-1 defeats against Sevilla and a Messi-less Barcelona. In just under 3 years as manager, Zinedine Zidane never allowed his side to concede more than 3 goals. Without Zidane and Ronaldo to save them, Madrid have conceded 4 or more goals on 3 separate occasions this season.

While the departure of their manager and best player will have undoubtedly taken its toll, the real problem lies in President Florentino Perez’s inability to replace them. The way in which Julian Lopetegui left the Spain national team to join the club could not have been handled in a worse manner, and when he was sacked in October the Madrid board dithered over a replacement, eventually running out of time and being forced to appoint the inexperienced Solari due to the lack of an alternative.

On the pitch, the squad has been stagnating, as a club once synonymous with regularly overhauling their squad and spending whatever it took to be the best have become increasingly reluctant to meet the ever-increasing asking prices. Since Gareth Bale’s world record move in 2013, Real have only made a transfer loss of £28m, significantly less than the likes of Barcelona and Man City. The failure to add competition for places has led to a complacency setting in among the starting players, so used to playing and winning that when a team like Ajax comes along and surprises them, they are slow to react and see the danger.

Perhaps Los Blancos’ monopoly of the Champions League in recent years has normalised success to such an extent that the players have lost motivation. What is clear is that Europe’s most successful club cannot go on being a reactionary force, content with relying on the same formula year after year, because once you remove one piece of the jigsaw i.e. Ronaldo, the whole thing falls apart. With several stars already hinting at moving on, most notably Gareth Bale and his rumoured transfer to Manchester United, Madrid should seize the opportunity to start afresh and re-build, otherwise this complacency could evolve into the mediocrity that saw the club go 12 long years without European success.