Ajax stunned Juventus to reach the Champions League semifinals 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 here on Tuesday.
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.
Meanwhile at Camp Nou, Lionel Messi produced another masterful Champions League performance to knock out Manchester United and fire Barcelona into the semifinals for the first time in four years, scoring twice in a 3-0 home win.
Barca, which toyed with United for the majority of the encounter, sealed a 4-0 aggregate victory.
Ajax had already eliminated three-time defending champions Real Madrid en route 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 semifinals for the third time in the past five seasons.
Only weapon
But Ronaldo was Juve’s only weapon against the impressive young Dutch side.
Massimiliano Allegri had been forced to reshuffle his side because of injuries, with Paulo Dybala returning in place of the injured Mario Mandzukic, while captain Giorgio Chiellini was also sidelined.
Ajax’s defence took a hit when Noussair Mazraoui, who had replaced the suspended Nicolas Tagliafico, limped off on 11 minutes with an ankle injury, with Daley Sinkgraven coming on.
Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana dived to keep out a scorching Dybala half-volley in the 20th minute.
But Ronaldo latched onto a Miralem Pjanic corner with a downward header that left Onana without no chance.
Equaliser
van de Beek controlled a wayward Hakim Ziyech shot six minutes later, rolling the ball past Szczesny to cancel out Juventus’ away goal and make it 2-2 on aggregate.
Teenage striker Moise Kean replaced Dybala after the break, but it was the Dutch who turned on the style, with only Szczesny’s reflexes keeping Juventus in the tie.
The Juventus back-line struggled with the pace of the Dutch team with Pjanic doing well to deny Ziyech a tap-in. But Erik ten Hag’s side’s incessant pressure paid off with 19-year-old skipper de Ligt towering above Alex Sandro and Daniele Rugani to head home Lasse Schone’s corner on 67 minutes.
Messi masterclass
Messi had failed to score in his last 12 quarterfinal appearances, but he settled his side’s nerves after a bright start from United, collecting a misplaced pass from Ashley Young and curling into the bottom corner in the 16th minute.
The Argentine then pounced on another lapse from United’s defence four minutes later to win back possession high up the pitch and fire a shot from outside the box, which squirmed under visiting keeper David de Gea.
Philippe Coutinho finished off a therapeutic win for the Catalans, after three quarterfinal failures in a row, by curling into the top corner in the second half.