Amsterdam: Cristiano Ronaldo produced yet another quality goal to add to his collection and help Juventus to a 1-1 draw at Ajax Amsterdam here Wednesday night in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal encounter.
Juve took the lead on the stroke of half time as Portuguese forward Ronaldo began an attacking move inside his own half before sprinting down field and diving to head in a clever chip from Joao Cancelo.
“Ronaldo proved again he is from a different level, the timing of his player is so different from the others,” said an admiring Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Ajax equalised 30 seconds into the second half after Cancelo lost control of the ball to allow David Neres to run down the left wing, cut inside and curl the ball past Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The result leaves the Serie A side in a strong position to advance to the semifinals in next week’s return leg in Turin. However, Juve will be mindful of Ajax’s 4-1 away win over Real Madrid in the last round that eliminated the holders 5-3 on aggregate.
Hakim Ziyech had several efforts at goal in a lively start for the youthful Dutch team, who have come through the pre-group phase qualifying round to reach the last eight.
Donny van de Beek scraped the outside of the upright with a 25th minute effort from close range after opening up space for himself in the penalty area in Ajax’s best chance of the first half.
But Juventus, with the 34-year-old Ronaldo central to their attacks, worked their way into the contest and came close themselves when the forward set up Federico Bernardeschi to turn and shoot in the 37th minute. But he was just off target. But Ronaldo, who scored his 125th Champions League goal, was not to be denied for long.
After equalising, Ajax then dominated possession but were guilty of over-elaborate passing and were also fortunate not to have given away a penalty when defender Nicolas Tagliafico was tugging on the jersey of Juventus captain Mario Mandzukic.
Spanish referee Carlos del Cerro Grande paused briefly in the 53rd minute to presumably hear from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) but resumed play before TV replays showed that Juventus had been denied a decent claim.
“A 1-1 score is not what we had hoped for but we are still well in,” said Ajax coach Erik ten Hag. “We had a lot of patient possession and we created one or two good chances.”
