Champions League Classics #5: Chelsea 4-4 Ajax

 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CLASSICS: CHELSEA 4-4 AJAX

Picture Above: Former Italian referee, Gianluca Rocchi, shows red to two Ajax players, Daley Blind and Joël Veltman, in one of the most controversial Champions League games ever. 

6th November 2019

Stamford Bridge, London, England

Pre-Match:

Since Ajax's miracle run the previous season, life in the Champions League hasn't been the same for the Dutch giants. After their run to the semi final in the 2018/19 season, two of Ajax's key players, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, left in the summer to Barcelona and Juventus, respectively. Chelsea meanwhile, were competing in the Champions League after a 1 year absence, winning the Europa League the previous season, under Maurizio Sarri. However, the Italian left the Londoners and joined Juventus, resulting in the return of club icon, Frank Lampard. Ajax's start to the season was great, winning 3-0 at home to Lille before winning by the same score away to Valencia before losing to the Blues in Amsterdam in their first ever encounter in the Champions League. Meanwhile's Chelsea's start was similar to Ajax's, losing their first game at home 1-0 to Valencia before wins at Lille and Ajax levelled the sides on points. In a potentially defining game in Group H in a wet and rainy bonfire night in west London, it was all to play for in Stamford Bridge 

Match: 

Within just one minute of the game, Rocchi blew his whistle for the first foul of the game, after Cesar Azpilicueta brought down Nicolás Tagliafico near the touchline, awarding the Dutch side a free kick. Quincy Promes whipped in the free kick with ferocity and an unfortunate Tammy Abraham got the last touch on the ball, sending it into his own net, making it 1-0 to Ajax. Immediately after conceding, Chelsea looked to get back level. New signing at the time, Christian Pulisić made a run into the penalty area before being brought down by Joël Veltman, awarding a penalty to Chelsea. Jorginho confidently proceeds to slot the ball past André Onana, making it 1-1 with barely five minutes played. Chelsea looked like they found the lead for the first time of the evening, when Mateo Kovačić played an impressive through ball to Tammy Abraham, who slotted it past Onana, only for the linesman to raise the flag for offside. Almost immediately, Ajax had another golden chance when Daley Blind played a fantastic ball to Dušan Tadić, who took a touch over Fikayo Tomori, before riffling the ball over the bar, missing the chance for Ajax to regain their lead. However, they managed to regain the lead in the 20th minute, when Hakim Ziyech curled a ball into the Chelsea penalty area, causing Quincy Promes to react fast and head it past Kepa, making it 2-1 to the Dutch side. 15 minutes later, Ajax made it 3-1 to themselves, following another masterclass from Ziyech. Marcos Alonso fouled Tadić on the edge of the penalty area, giving Ajax a free kick in a tight angle. However, Ziyech whipped towards the far post of the Chelsea goal, before bouncing towards the goal off Kepa's face, making it an own goal for the Spaniard and 3-1 to Ajax, causing Stamford Bridge to fall in silence. Eventually, half time would approach, capping off an entertaining first half, but what was to come was just as entertaining. 

Half Time: Chelsea 1-3 Ajax 

(Chelsea: Jorginho 4' (P) )

(Ajax: T. Abraham 2' (OG), Q. Promes 20', K. Arrizabalaga 35' (OG) )

In the second half, Chelsea had the first major chance, when Abraham was through on goal following a fantastic through ball from Kovačić. After beating his marker in Joël Veltman, he was through on goal with only the keeper to beat, but his effort was denied by Onana. Replay showed that even if he did score, the goal wouldn't have stood as Abraham was in an offside position. Despite a promising start to the half, Chelsea's defence was breached for the fourth time of the evening, when Donny van de Beek finished off a clinical Ajax counter attack, as Ziyech collected his second assist of the game, worsening the deficit for Chelsea, as Ajax looked to run away with all three points. While the nails seemed to be nailed into the Chelsea coffin, the night was far from over just yet. 9 minutes after van de Beek's strike, captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, after a cross from Reece James took a touch of Abraham, the Chelsea captain poked the ball into the net, and Stamford Bridge erupted into noise once again. Soon, Chelsea found the momentum, and unleashed a counter attack, which caused Daley Blind to trip Abraham, but Rocchi played on with Callum Hudson-Odoi, who took a shot which hit the hand off Joël Veltman, causing play to be stopped. In a stunning turn of events, Rocchi sent both Ajax defenders off due to the foul and handball, while Chelsea were awarded a penalty. Jorginho stepped up and scored, making it 4-3 while scoring his second penalty of the game, setting up the making of a Champions League classic in west London. Only 3 minutes later, Willian swung in a corner which met the head of Kurt Zouma, who rose highest and headed goalwards. His header hit the crossbar, before falling back into the path of youngster, Reece James, who's first time shot hit the back of the net, making it 4-4 of the night, sending Stamford Bridge into a state of rapture, completing the comeback. The goal was only Reece James's second goal in Chelsea colours, as he became the youngest goalscorer in the Champions League for Chelsea. The Blues looked as though they completed the turnaround when Azpilicueta rocketed the ball into the back of Onana's net, sending Stamford Bridge into delirium. However, the goal was disallowed after it was revealed that in the build up of the goal, the ball hit Tammy Abraham's hand, reverting the scoreline to 4-4. Eventually, the game would end this way, resulting in a thrilling conclusion with the turnout of Group H yet to be decided. 

Full Time: Chelsea 4-4 Ajax 

(Chelsea: Jorginho 4' (P), 71' (P),  C. Azpilicueta 63',  R. James 74' )

(Ajax: T. Abraham 2' (OG),  Q. Promes 20',  K. Arrizabalaga 35' (OG,  D. van de Beek 54' ) )

Post-Match: 

Following that thoroughly entertaining night in west London, Chelsea drew 2-2 with Valencia in Mestalla and won 2-1 against Lille in London, sealing 2nd place in the group. Meanwhile, Ajax won 2-0 against Lille in France, and had the simple task of beating Valencia at home in Amsterdam. However, Ajax chocked and lost 1-0 due to a lone goal from Rodrigo, sending Ajax crashing into the Europa League, where they lost in the Round of 32 to Getafe. Meanwhile, Chelsea were drawn against Bayern Munich in the last 16, but were steamrolled by the Bavarian giants, who beat them 7-1 on aggregate, en route to their treble winning season. 

Following the 2019-20 season, Chelsea signed Hakim Ziyech from the Dutch side, as he became a crucial part of Chelsea's Champions League winning squad the following season. Meanwhile, Ajax failed to make it out of the group stage for the second year in a row, falling short to Liverpool and Atalanta. In the Europa League, Ajax breezed past Lille and Young Boys to make the qaurter finals, but failed to get past Roma, who beat them in the qaurter finals. 

Match Lineups: 

Chelsea (4):                                                             Subs: 

GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga (#1, Spain)                    #4: Andreas Christensen (Denmark)            

LB: Marcos Alonso (#3, Spain)                            #7: N'Golo Kanté (France) 

CB: Fikayo Tomori (#29, England)                     #13: Willy Caballero (Argentina)

CB: Kurt Zouma (#15, France)                           #20: Callum Hudson-Odoi (England)

RB: Cesar Azpilicueta (#28, Spain)                     #23: Michy Batshuayi (Belgium)

CM: Mason Mount (#19, England)                     #24: Reece James (England)

CM: Jorginho (#5, Italy)                                      #47: Billy Gilmour (Scotland)

CM: Mateo Kovačić (#17, Croatia)

RW: Christian Pulisić (#22, USA)

ST: Tammy Abraham (#9, England)

LW: Willian (#10, Brazil)              

Ajax (4):                                                               

GK: André Onana (#24, Cameroon)                   #1: Bruno Varela (Cape Verde)

LB: Nicolás Tagliafico (#31, Argentina)              #2: Perr Schuurs (Netherlands)

CB: Daley Blind (#17, Netherlands)                    #4: Edson Álvarez (Mexico)

CB: Joël Veltman (#3, Netherlands)                    #9: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands)

RB: Noussair Mazraoui (#12, Morocco)             #15: Siem de Jong (Netherlands)

CDM: Lisandro Martínez (#21, Argentina)        #18: Ražvan Marin (Romania)

CDM: Donny van de Beek (#6, Netherlands)      #28: Sergiño Dest (USA)

LM: Quincy Promes (#11, Netherlands)

CAM: Hakim Ziyech (#22, Morocco)

RM: David Neres (#7, Brazil)

ST: Dušan Tadić (#10, Serbia)