Ajax hero Donny van de Beek knows there is work left for his side to do in the second leg against Tottenham despite their 1-0 win in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
Van de Beek was the man for the moment, calmly slotting home just 15 minutes in to hand the away side an advantage they would never relinquish.
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Spurs pushed to get back into the match and gave the Dutch outfit problems in the second half, leading their goalscoring hero to urge calm as his club sit just 90 minutes away from an improbable place in the Champions League final.
“The first 30 minutes we played really good," Van de Beek told BT Sport. "After that, Tottenham changed something tactical and we had problems. 1-0 is okay and next week we have to finish it.
“The beginning was good, but after that we played not what we can. We have to make a good plan for next week.
“We have to stay calm. I don’t know what they will do in the next game. We can do better and we have to watch for next week.”
Ajax have a good bit of history on their side heading into the second leg.
Just one of the last 17 sides to lose a Champions League or European Cup semi-final first leg at home have made it to the final.
Along with that, only two other clubs have won three knockout matches away from home in the same Champions League campaign. Those clubs, Bayern Munich in the 2012-13 season and Real Madrid in the 2017-18 both went on to win the competition.
Ajax have now won four straight matches away from home in the Champions League, their longest such streak this century.
The club now have a KNVB Cup final against Willem II to contend with on Sunday before hosting the second leg against Spurs next Wednesday.
Should they progress to the final, they will face either Barcelona or Liverpool, who open their Champions League semi-final tie with the first leg at Camp Nou on Wednesday, in Madrid on June 1.
