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It was a match that the entire world of football fans was interested to see. A young and talented Ajax squad vs lately struggling Real Madrid. Several people were ready for a surprise as Ajax looked incredibly strong as of late while Real Madrid had struggled every now and then throughout the season.
From the beginning of the match it was clear that Ajax wanted to play for the win and they got a better grip of the game immediately. Dominating in both possession and chances created it was looking good for the underdogs from Amsterdam. Yet even with a stronger-looking performance Ajax struggled to convert any of the chances they created.
The crowd went wild at one point, where Ajax scored the 1-0 which looked like a legal goal at first, but was disallowed after the virtual assistant referee made a call for offside (the first time VAR had disallowed a goal in Champions League history).
Overall there were not a lot of other key moments in the first half and as the whistle for half-time blew it was 0-0 on the scoreboard with not a single yellow card given. Ajax had a total of 11 attempts on goal in the first 45 minutes with Real only managing four attempts.
Up until then a lot of people that watched the match would say that Ajax were simply outclassing Real Madrid that night, but generally if you do not punish Real Madrid, they will ultimately punish you which is exactly what followed in the second leg of the fixture.
Fifteen minutes into the second half it was Real Madrid's stand-out young talent Vinicius Junior with an absolutely magnificent run into the box, followed by a beautiful setup for his teammate Karim Benzema who is just too good inside the box and netted in the top corner for the 1-0 lead to Real Madrid. Having struggled before it was this moment where Real really found their way back into the game and simply showing their routine on the big stage.
Ajax was trying to fight back where they could and give their home fans something to see for their money. 15 minutes after conceding they managed to set-up a beautiful counter-attacking play ending with Ajax' Winger Neres finding Teammate Ziyech inside of the box who managed to equalize the scoreline to a 1-1.
Just before the equaliser was scored Real Madrid subbed in young talent Marco Asensio who had been a crucial decider in several of their matches before. It was also him who would ultimately ruin the night for most supporters of Ajax as he produced the goal giving Real Madrid the 2-1 lead in the 87th minute of the match, at which point it was just too late for Ajax to draw back.
The final moment of the game that got everyone's attention was when Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was booked in the 90th minute, which means he is going to miss the next leg where Madrid face Ajax at their home Stadium. The score itself remained unchanged as the game ended in a 2-1 away victory for Real Madrid after an overall mediocre performance.
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What to expect from the second leg and how to profit from your predictions:
With Ajax playing unexpectedly well and Real Madrid missing their captain Ramos for the second leg fixture one could certainly see a surprise coming in the match in Madrid.
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