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Real Madrid registered a narrow victory over determined AFC Ajax, the most successful club in the Netherlands. It was quite evident from Ajax's recent performances that Madrid had to give their hearts out to beat the young Dutch side.
Ajax were dominant throughout the first half, but they failed to get the much-deserved lead. The Dutch side outclassed Madrid in all departments in the first 45 minutes of the game. The young side showed more energy and eagerness to win the game as compared to their Spanish opponents.
The first real chance of the game came from Ajax when Dusan Tadic's shot hit the post five minutes before the half-hour mark. It seemed that the home side took the lead eight minutes before the end of the first half through Tagliafico, but the goal was ruled out for offside after referring to VAR.
Ajax cramped the Madrid midfield and offensive players for space. Real Madrid failed to create a single goalscoring chance in the first half.
However, the Champions league holders completely changed the outcome of the game in the second half. Vinicius Jr made an amazing run from the left flank into the box and provided an amazing pass to Benzema. The Frenchman didn't make any mistake and scored the goal with a neat finish in the 60th minute of the game.
Ajax scored the equalizer in the 75th minute of the game through Hakim Ziyech. However, they failed to maintain the 1-1 scoreline. Marco Asensio scored the winner assisted by Dani Carvajal for Real, just three minutes before the 90th minute mark.
Ajax will be disappointed with the result, but they still have a chance to progress in club football's most elite competition. The young Dutch side will travel to Madrid for the second leg on March 6.
Twitter, as usual, reacted to Real Madrid's 2-1 victory over Ajax and here are some of the tweets:
