At 4:00 a.m. Beijing time on March 16, the second leg of the 2021-22 Champions League quarterfinals ushered in two giants outside the five major leagues: Ajax hosted Benfica at home. In the first leg, Benfica drew 2-2 at home with Ajax.
Ajax started 4231, Ale played center, Tadić, Boguys, Anthony on the forward line, double backs Alvarez, Gravenbic, four defenders Brinde, Lisandro Martinez, Timber, Mazlawi, goalkeeper Onana. The total value of the starting eleven is 260 million euros.
Benfica started the same 4231, Núñez played as a center, Everton, Gonzalo Ramos, Rafa Silva on the forward line, double backs Weigel and Tarabut, four defenders Grimaldo, Vertonghen, Otamendi, Gilberto, goalkeeper Flajodimos, the starting eleven were worth a total of 160 million euros.
In the group stage, Ajax won 6 games to advance to the first place in the group, and Benfica, who was in the same group as Bayern and Barca, was lucky to advance to the second place in the group when Barca was in a slump.
The first leg of the quarter-finals was drawn 2-2 between the two sides, and since the European game eliminated the away goal advantage, it was the two sides who had to decide who advanced and who was out.
After the game opened, Ajax, who played at home, dominated the attack. In the opening 3 minutes, Tadic's cross from the left was met by Anthony,around the corner with a header that was deflected off the top. In the 7th minute, Tadić picked out the middle of the penalty area, Alai single-handedly pushed the ball in! Unfortunately, the offside was first and the goal was invalid. In the 19th minute, Ajax fired a tactical corner kick, Tadic picked out a pass into the box and Alvarez's header went high over the bar. In the 26th minute, Tadic's cross from the left was met by Boguez. In the 30th minute, Tadić drove a free-kick from the right into the box and Timber's header went high over the bar.
In the 35th minute, Anthony ran on goal and shot it, which was confiscated by the goalkeeper.
In the 37th minute, Gravenbage cut inside on the left side of the field and fired a long-range shot high over the crossbar.
In first-half stoppage time, Tadić's cross from the left was met by Lisandro Martinez, who took the ball and whipped it high.
Judging from the situation in the first half, Ajax's attack was higher than a wave, only one goal away, while Benfica was in a passive beating most of the time and could not organize the attack at all.
In the second half, Ajax continued to dominate the attack. In the 49th minute, Tadić took the ball on his back from the top of the penalty area and then continuously got rid of the defenders, turned and shot high. In the 52nd minute, Tadić picked out a cross from the left side of the penalty area and Alai's header went high over the bar.
In the 77th minute, Benfica's free kick in front of the field, Grimaldo took the penalty, the high red ball crossed into the box, Ajax goalkeeper Onana made a mistake, Nunez flicked his head and attacked the goal, the ball was scored! Benfica 1-0 Ajax led 3-2 on aggregate.
In the end, with Núñez's goal, Benfica beat Ajax 1-0 away to advance to the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
In the quarterfinals of this Champions League, there are 4 teams outside the five major leagues of Ajax, Benfica, Portugal Sport and Red Bull Salzburg, Portugal Sports was eliminated by Manchester City, Red Bull Salzburg was eliminated by Bayern, and Benfica personally eliminated Ajax, becoming the only team outside the five leagues to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the past 10 seasons, Benfica has advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals three times, while Manchester United, who have just been eliminated by Atletico, have only reached the champions league quarterfinals twice in the past 10 seasons.
Uruguayan striker Núñez, 22, has performed well, scoring 1 goal against Bayern and 2 goals against Barca in the Champions League group stage and the winning goal against Ajax in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Núñez, who can play in multiple positions in the forward line, has already piqued the interest of Premier League giants Liverpool. Benfica's list price for Nunes is around £55 million.