Ajax reaches the Champions League quarter-finals: Reclaiming lost glory.

They lost the first leg at home at the Johan Cruyff Arena 1-2, and the story seemed over. But the real "earthquake" occurred three weeks later, the horrific night at the Bernabeu when Ajax massacred the Spanish royal team 4-1, thanks to a brilliant performance from Dusan Tadic, sending Ajax into the quarter-finals.

It wouldn't be a big deal or a surprise for other European teams to achieve this, but it's different for Ajax. It's been over 15 years, precisely 16 years, since the team last played in a Champions League quarter-final.

Vietnamese football fans surely remember the golden age of the "Orange Tornado" in the 1970s, when they introduced the "total attacking" style of football and became a major force in world football.

Ajax's golden generation of the 1970s. Photo: Uefa.com

This period of Dutch football is closely associated with the success of Ajax Amsterdam, as they became the second team in European football history (along with Real Madrid) to win three consecutive European Cup titles in 1971, 1972, and 1973. During that glorious era, the most prominent name at Ajax, who later became a legend of world football, was Johan Cruyff. In 1973, J. Cruyff moved to Barcelona – marking the end of Ajax's golden age.

In the 1990s, Ajax produced a new generation of "genius" players: Bergkamp, ​​Kluivert, Zenden, Davis, Seedorf, Cocu, the De Boer brothers…they brought back the total football style of Dutch football. Ajax once again reached the top of the Champions League in 1995 and the final in 1996. The Dutch national team, with a core of Amsterdam players, reached the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup in France.

But Ajax's problem is that they can't keep their players. Rising young stars, after a few successful seasons, are moving to bigger clubs in Europe, such as Bergkamp, ​​Clarence Seedorf, Kluivert, and Marc Overmars. What can they do when the Netherlands has a population of only around 17 million, making it impossible to attract television rights or advertising deals? They are forced to accept becoming a "feeder club" for the big teams and a youth academy for Europe.

Ajax won the Champions League in 1995. Photo: Goal

It has been over 10 years since Ajax last reached the Round of 16 of the Champions League, since their last appearance in 2005/06. And it has been over 15 years since the 2003 season that Ajax last played in the quarter-finals of this competition. That's a very long time for a major force in European football.

Ajax's achievement could be a sign of revival, or perhaps just a fleeting moment, but for Dutch football fans, it's clearly something to celebrate. Even if Ajax disappears from the European football map after this season, as their emerging talents have already caught the eye of European giants, and everyone knows that nothing can keep players like De Light, Onana, and Frankie de Jong from leaving.

Ajax in 2019 was a young team, with many rising stars, and their most experienced players were only Dusan Tadic, Delay Blind, and Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar, a veteran who is now 34 years old. But leading them was Erik ten Hag, who was designing an Ajax playing style reminiscent of the team's peak by seamlessly combining the experience of the veterans with the talent of the young players.

Remember, in the 2018/19 UCL group stage, Ajax had the highest attacking efficiency among the 32 teams, with a shooting success rate of 60%. That's an impressive figure.

In 1973, Ajax defeated Juventus in the European Cup final via penalty shootout, ending one of the club's most glorious eras. In 1996, Juventus beat Ajax in another final, marking the end of yet another golden age for Ajax.

By chance, the draw for the 2018/19 quarter-finals pitted these two teams against each other. And who knows, a new glorious era for Ajax Amsterdam might just begin…