Ajax in fine company after another away win

Ajax became just the third team to win the away legs of their last-16, quarter-final and semi-final Champions League ties in a single campaign.

Donny van de Beek scored the only goal against Tottenham in London on Tuesday as surprise semi-finalists Ajax seized a 1-0 first-leg lead in the last four.

And that victory came after winning away in stunning fashion at both defending champions Real Madrid – a staggering 4-1 success – and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus.

Ajax join Bayern Munich, in the 2012-13 season, and last term’s Madrid side in achieving such a run of results on the road.

3 – @AFCAjax are the third team to win their round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final away game in a Champions League season, after FC Bayern in 2012-13 and Real Madrid in 2017-18. Historic. pic.twitter.com/gwmUgJIrex

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) April 30, 2019

The omens are good for the Eredivisie giants, too, as both Bayern and Madrid went on to win the tournament in those respective campaigns.

Bayern won away at Arsenal, Juve and Barcelona before beating Borussia Dortmund in the final. Madrid triumphed on their travels against Paris Saint-Germain, Juve and Bayern, then saw off Liverpool.

Ajax are in a particularly commanding position given that only one of 17 teams to lose a first leg at home in a European Cup or Champions League semi-final, as Spurs have, have progressed. That was the Dutch side in 1995-96.

1 – Only one of the 17 previous teams to lose the first leg at home in a European Cup/Champions League semi-final tie has progressed into the final (Ajax in 1995-96). Burdensome. #TOTAJA pic.twitter.com/hXxUbXwFAp

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 30, 2019