Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Real Madrid 1-4 Ajax: Champions League holders STUNNED by Ajax, Real Madrid knocked out
REAL MADRID crashed out of the Champions League as Ajax produced a stunning 4-1 victory in the Bernabeu to reach the quarter-finals. See how the action unfolded with Express Sport.
Real Madrid, with captain Sergio Ramos suspended after deliberately collecting a yellow card in the first leg, had been looking to build on a slender 2-1 lead from that game in Amsterdam and stay on course for a potential fourth straight European triumph.
However, after Raphael Varane's header rattled the crossbar, Ajax raced into an early lead through Hakim Ziyech before Dusan Tadic set up David Neres for a second in the 18th minute.
Ajax looked to have put the tie to bed when Tadic swept in a brilliant third goal just after the hour - which was eventually given following an extensive VAR review to check if the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.
Substitute Marco Asensio briefly gave Real hope when he put the ball in off the post with 20 minutes left.
Lasse Schone, though, capped a brilliant night for Erik Ten Hag's side when he curled in an angled free-kick over Thibaut Courtois on 72 minutes.
Real finished with 10 men after Nacho picked up two needless late cautions.
REAL MADRID 1-4 AJAX | ZIYECH (7), NERES (19), TADIC (62), ASENSIO (70), SCHONE (72)
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Nacho, Varane, Reguilon, Kroos, Casemiro, Modric, Lucas, Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Navas, Vallejo, Bale, Marcelo, Valverde, Asensio, Ceballos.
Ajax XI: Onana, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Blind, Tagliafico, van de Beek, Schone, De Jong, Ziyech, Tadic, David Neres.
Subs: Bruno Varela, Veltman, Sinkgraven, Huntelaar, Labyad, Dolberg, de Wit.