Real Madrid's dominance in European football was dealt a massive blow following an enthralling performance by Ajax on Tuesday. The Dutch outfits defied the bookies to cruise to an emphatic 4-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, ensuring a 5-3 aggregate win for Erik ten Hag's men in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie.
What was tagged as a mission accomplished for Los Blancos has evidently took an unfortunate turn and right up with it, a few records have been scribed into the European competition's history books. The biggest of them all, perhaps, revolves around the fact that Ajax is only the second team in history to eliminate Real Madrid from a European knockout tie after losing the first leg at home.
In review, Danish outfit Odense Boldklub was the first-ever team to pull off such a feat in the 1995-96 UEFA Cup. Despite trying on multiple occasions, Tuesday night's win ensured a UEFA Champions League quarter-final qualification for Ajax for the first time since the 2002/2003 season.
Dreams DO come true! #UCL #reaaja pic.twitter.com/TOmJcGz824
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) March 5, 2019
The Dutch club also managed to successfully progress from a knockout game in the competition for the first time in 22 years. Interestingly, Real Madrid's local rivals Atletico was on the wrong end of the 4-3 aggregate scoreline the last time out.
On the subject of Los Blancos, they have been eliminated from the Champions League for the first time in four years and have failed to progress to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010. The defeat also meant that the Bernabeu outfit has now lost four consecutive home games for the first time since 2004.
Ajax's 4-1 victory also outlined the fact that Real Madrid has lost its last two Champions League home games by a three-goal margin (lost 3-0 to CSKA Moscow) – a feat that has never been before in any competition.
