Erik Ten Hag: Ajax can still beat Juventus in Champions League quarter-final
Wednesday 10 April 2019 23:30, UK
Erik Ten Hag admitted a draw with Juventus was not ideal for Ajax - but explained why they can still progress in the Champions League.
Ten Hag's side were dominant against the runaway Serie A leaders in Amsterdam but did not have the goals to show for it in a 1-1 draw, where David Neres cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo's opener less than 30 seconds into the second half.
After the game he said: "[1-1] is not the result you hope for, but it is a result. Last time we also lost 2-1 to Madrid at home - we are still good at it.
"We spent a lot of time in possession and were patient. And we had some very good opportunities in the game. At half-time I told them to keep doing what they were doing, you see that Juventus make mistakes."
Juve manager Massimilio Allegri also paid tribute to Ten Hag's young team, who had lost each of their last six European Cup games against the Turin side.
Allegri said: "Ajax are a great team, very good technically dribbling very well in the flanks. We had to make better use of some occasions, even if they are good at pressing second balls.
"When they scored at the start of the second half this gave him confidence, then some of our mistakes helped them, and we had to become more compact. I added so many technical players to let us breathe."
