London: Kings of Europe no more. Real Madrid’s Champions League reign is over. More than 1,000 days since winning the first of three consecutive European titles, Real Madrid unprecedented era of dominance ended with a whimper when the Spanish giant was stunned 4-1 by Ajax at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Tuesday. The humiliating loss meant Madrid was eliminated 5-3 on aggregate in the round of 16, leaving the club looking at a trophy-less season in its first campaign since mega-star Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus.
“We were not going to win the Champions League forever,” said Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez, who was sent off in the final minutes of the game. “Reigns eventually come to an end. Something like this was going to happen sooner or later.”
In the end, the club renowned for assembling its team with expensive Galactico signings was undone by a club centered around a core of homegrown young talents. Ajax, which is enjoying a resurgence thanks to young stars like Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, needed less than 20 minutes to reverse a 2-1 deficit from the first leg, with Hakim Ziyech scoring in the seventh minute and David Neres in the 18th.
Dusan Tadic, who set up both first-half goals, added to the lead in the 62nd, and Lasse Schone sealed the Dutch team’s triumph with a free kick from a tight angle in the 72nd. Marco Asensio had pulled the hosts closer a couple of minutes earlier. “We always believed we had a chance, and we had 4,000 fans here who believed as well,” Ajax coach Erick ten Hag said. “Over the two matches we definitely deserve to progress to the next round.” In Tuesday’s other game, Tottenham won 1-0 at Borussia Dortmund to go through 4-0 on aggregate, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2011.
Ajax was playing in the last 16 for the first time since 2006 and will be making its first quarterfinal appearance since 2003. For Madrid, it was the fourth straight home loss in all competitions, something that hadn’t happened since 2004, and capped one of the worst weeks in the club’s recent history. The team was coming off two demoralising home losses to arch-rival Barcelona, 1-0 in the Spanish league and 3-0 in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.
Out of the Copa del Rey and 12 points behind Barcelona in the Spanish league, the Champions League was Real Madrid’s only realistic chance of winning anything this season. “We are sad. We are hurt,” Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari said. “We gave our best but it wasn’t enough. All we can do is come back tomorrow and keep working hard. The season continues and we have to keep playing.” Madrid hadn’t lost a Champions League knockout tie since the 2015 semifinal against Juventus. It had reached at least the semifinals in eight straight seasons and hadn’t failed to make it past the last 16 since 2010.