SUMMARY:

Despite the routine brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo, this was a match-up that showcased the pure class of this fairy-tale Ajax side. The first half opened with both sides seeming to be feeling the quarter-final nerves in the opening minutes and couldn’t string together a comprehensive string of passes. Juventus opened the game by startling Ajax with an early chance in the 3rd minute after a charging run from Bernardeschi through midfield who then blasted his strike over. Following this, Juventus could not seem to keep a hold of the ball and gave it away cheaply on a number of occasions. This sloppy pattern soon broke and from it spurred a young, fearless Ajax side that displayed exactly what has taken them to this stage in the biggest competition in the world. As Juventus started to keep a small bit of possession of the ball, the home side unleashed a ferocious high-press which effectively pinned Juventus in their own half with little hope of playing their way through. Due to Juventus being forced to play the long ball, Ajax was able and determined to keep a considerable amount of possession which they could immediately put to attacking use making chance after chance with the insurance policy of the press in the event that their attack broke down. The match turned into a modern-day siege, the Amsterdam side akin to the battering ram persistently banging on the castle door and the Turin side like the castle holding steadfast to the barrage. In the late stages of the first-half however, Juventus found a way to break through the press by way of the long outlet, a surging run from deep midfield, or Ajax being caught in possession. In accordance with this vulnerability, just before the half-time whistle none other than Cristiano Ronaldo broke the deadlock. Betancur was able to dribble through the Ajax press starting a counter-attack and play a ball to Ronaldo who was occupying the center-forward position. Ronaldo then played the ball wide to Cancelo and started a powerful run from a deep position. Cancelo dinked the ball over the back line and Ronaldo was their to power the header home from 6 yards out. Cristiano had done it again. When the second-half started, the scene was set for a half of Juventus defending deep in a compact 4-4-2 formation and allow Ajax to try to break them down. This plan was promptly scrapped when in the 46th minute Neres curled one home. The attack came from Ajax playing out of the back from a goal-kick and playing a ball into the channel for Neres. Cancelo was there to intercept, but made a mess of his first-touch allowing Neres to take the ball from him, cut in onto his right foot, and stroke the ball past Szczesny. The game continued in, more or less, the same fashion as it did in the first-half and Szczesny was by far the busier of the two ‘keepers. Despite a flurry of attacks from the substitute, Douglas Costa who provided a pacey escape route for Juventus and struck a low effort against the post in the 85th minute, the game ended level in the first leg of the quarter-final in Amsterdam.

GOALKEEPERS:

ONANA: Andre Onana has emerged as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world at the moment. He is extremely sound and well-rounded as one would expect of a keeper that spent many years in La Masia and has been at a club now for almost four years with one of the best track records of producing young talent. One thing that, as always impresses me about Onana is his distribution and the ice-cold composure he has on the ball. I can only recall one instance in which Onana took only one touch in clearing the ball when receiving a back pass from his defenders which struck as unusual enough to write it down in bold letters in my game notes. There were multiple occasions in the game that the Cameroonian receive a ball inside his 6 yard area with pressure less than 10 yards away and still took a touch and found a teammate with either foot. The incredible thing is how routinely he does this. I believe that he is up in the mix with Ter Stegen when it comes to taking a first touch away from a forward and distributing to teammates. Andre Onana uses a technique when distributing mid to long range balls in which he swings at the ball quickly, but has a short follow-through and almost fades away from the ball after striking it. This appears to be a very efficient technique that not enough goalkeepers use. Another thing that impresses me about Onana is his confidence which seems to be a theme in this Ajax side. He came out to punch a ball in the first half from a corner that many goalkeepers would leave, although it was headed before him by his teammate, you could see that he was confident enough to even come for that ball and might have got their had De Ligt not headed it away. Lastly I am struck by the focus of a young goalkeeper like Onana for 90 minutes. Having had very little to do throughout the game, with the exception of the Ronaldo goal in which he had no chance due to the range and power of the effort, Onana finished the game by making a few interventions that kept Juve from earning the win. The first came from a cross from Cancelo from the right that was headed toward the far-post. Onana waits until the ball passes by all the traffic then springs off of his right foot to push it wide. This is a situation that any goalkeeper knows requires an intense amount of focus and having done virtually nothing all game, Onana pulled it off in the 88th minute. He then collected the driven cross from Douglas Costa on the other side which came from the rebound of the initial save. The second instance was another cross from Cancelo from inside the box which Onana gathered low to his right. It was a driven ball and Onana did well to hold it under pressure. Onana often takes a wide stance a considerable distance from his near post when facing a close range potentially crosser which shows his intent to control his area and his confidence in his apparent athleticism to cover his near-post.

SZCZESNY: Across the field between the sticks for Juventus, Szczesny is a contrast to Onana in that he does not possess the prowess to play out from the back which perhaps Juventus could have used when dealing with the Ajax press. This was highlighted by two stray balls early on in search of his left-back which were played out of bounds. Despite this, Szczesny has really come into his own for the Old Lady. From showing inconsistent flashes of his potential at Arsenal, to proving that he may be able to fill that potential at Roma, I believe that we are finally seeing Szczesny fulfilling his potential. The Polish international was tested early on when Dusan Tadic unleashed a swerving effort from the top of the box. The ball seemed to be heading towards Szczesny’s right and he shuffled towards it. The trajectory of the ball ended up taking a swerve to Szczesny’s left forcing him to collapse to his left to collect. This showed, for me, showed his progression as the Szczesny of old may have spilled it. In the 18th minute Szczesny was tested again by a curling shot from the top left of the box by Ziyech which was arguably the save of the match. As the ball headed toward the top left corner, Szczesny took a cross-step from left to right then took his push-step with his right foot and tipped the ball over with his bottom hand (right hand). I was impressed with how quickly and sharply Szczesny was able to execute the footwork that ultimately allowed him to make the save. He chose to go with the bottom hand as the ball seemed to be dipping and landing almost behind him which presents a better opportunity to go with the bottom hand. Other than this save Szczesny did not have to make any other saves of note in the first half. He was tested very early on in the second half though. I do not believe that Szczesny had any chance with the Neres goal, because he was being screened by a few defenders and the shot was well placed, perhaps he could have taken a shuffle and dove on this occasion instead of cross-stepping as that would be quicker, but that would be asking a lot. Szczesny made a good save in the 65th minute from an effort from Veltman, the right back for Ajax. Ziyech had the ball at the top of the box and played the ball wide to the right where Veltman had made a run into the box. The Juve back line was able to cut off half of the goal which allowed Szczesny to take a step forward to cut the angle. As Veltman strikes the ball, you can see Szczesny anticipating that the ball will be struck to his left by reading the body posture and the position of the defenders cutting of the the other side of the goal. The big polish goalkeeper leans toward the direction that he has read the shot will be taken, allowing him to make the save low to his left. I do not understand the stigma behind a goalkeeper anticipating the direction of a shot. Many goalkeeper coaches would tell young goalkeepers to wait and react, but in some instances a good goalkeeper can read the body posture of a forward and make a save that would not be able to be made had they not anticipated and started their movement in that direction. It would have been extremely unlikely that Veltman could have struck the ball through defenders across his body into the far corner, so why not begin leaning in the other direction? A situation as such reminds me of an interview with Edwin Van der Sar in which he described a free-kick at the top of the box. He stated that 9/10 of the time the shooter will go over the wall, so if he’s playing the odds and wants the highest percentage of success for his team he should anticipate moving in that direction, right?. However, in the one time out of ten the ball goes to the goalkeeper’s side and he is beaten, he has made a mistake. I have the upmost respect for a ‘keeper that chooses to go with the odds and potentially sacrifice himself.