Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has said that Juventus got the tactics wrong during the recent Champions League quarter-final tie against Ajax. The Bianconeri gained a solid away goal advantage from a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam but they were outclassed in their own stadium where Ajax won with a 2-1 scoreline.
As such, the Eredivisie giants produced to the semi-final stage with a 3-2 aggregate scoreline but Mourinho suggests that the outcome could have been better, had the Bianconeri not shown relax to the opposition’s style of play, he told RT: “In my opinion, [Juventus are] another team that let Ajax play with their strength.
“Until this moment, nobody really respected them, and they let them play with the qualities they have. They have fantastic young players with a little bit of the experience they didn’t have a couple of years ago when I played them in the Europa League final.We gave them the game that they didn’t want to have. If you play against Ajax in the way they want to play, you have the risk that they are better than you.”
Ajax have beaten the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus en route to the final four of the competition where they are scheduled to face Tottenham Hotspur. The tie remains equally balanced with both teams possessing exciting talents within their ranks but Spurs will be expected to showcase the dominance, given they are playing in a much better league compared to the Amsterdam outfit.
Before the encounter, however, Ajax have league games against Groningen and Vitesse Arnhem and they need to win both of those to remain in contention for the Eredivisie title. Ajax are currently ahead of PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table with a superior goal difference. They have netted an average of more than three goals during the course of the campaign.