It is a sad fact of modern life for Ajax that their name commands more respect than their football these days. They were once the team of the moment, pushing tactical boundaries they ruled the continent in the 1970s, and they even fielded the youngest starting lineup in the history of the European Cup when they won it for a fourth time in 1995.
Yet those days are long gone. Ajax are a shadow of their former selves, a pale imitation under the beleaguered John Heitinga, and do not have the means to keep up when richer clubs invest their vast resources into youth projects of their own.
For Chelsea, the model is a mixture of promoting homegrown products and looking far and wide for the best teenagers in the world. The old line about winning nothing with kids is lost on Chelsea’s owners. They have refused to be swayed by suggestions that they could do with bringing in more experience and will feel increasingly emboldened after watching their side, who are the youngest in this season’s Champions League, subject the 10 men of Ajax to the ignominy of conceding four goals in the first half of a European tie for the first time since 1958.
History was made more than once during a riotous 5-1 win for Enzo Maresca’s youngsters. Marc Guiu, a forward aged 19 years and 291 days, became Chelsea’s youngest scorer in this competition – for all of 28 minutes. Estêvão Willian, a Brazilian prodigy aged 18 years and 181 days, did not take long to leapfrog the Spaniard and it summed up Guiu’s luck that he ended up in third place after Tyrique George – 19 years and 260 days – got on the scoresheet at the start of the second half.
The records tumbled. Never before have a team had three teenagers score in one Champions League game. Ajax, thumped in their first three ties of the league phase, could not handle Chelsea’s energy and invention. Maresca is building something. There was a moment near the end when he was puffing out his cheeks in disbelief; Estêvão, who looks a future Ballon d’Or winner, had almost scored with an audacious overhead kick.
“It’s a special night for the club, for the young players,” Maresca said. “I work with them every day. I know what they can do. We are going to have moments where we struggle but the good thing about them is that they want to improve.”
Maresca is trying to keep standards high. He would not be drawn on whether Chelsea are capable of winning the Champions League, even though they are only outside the top eight on goal difference.
After all nobody mistook this for one of the great Ajax sides. They have made a poor start in the Eredivisie and looked beaten once Kenneth Taylor was sent off for an ugly foul on Facundo Buonanotte in the 17th minute.
The irony is that all the talk has been about Chelsea’s indiscipline. They were without the suspended João Pedro and were under instructions from Maresca to stop making life unnecessarily difficult for themselves.
In the event it was Ajax who pressed the self-destruct button. Taylor’s dismissal for lunging in on Buonanotte was followed by an instant concession. Buonanotte, one of 10 changes from Maresca, crossed from the right and the unchallenged Wesley Fofana headed across for Guiu to make the most of a rare chance to lead the line by scoring from close range.
Ajax were farcical. The away end turned on Heitinga, who is already under severe pressure in his first managerial role, when he tried to shore his side up by replacing Oscar Gloukh with Jorthy Mokio after Guiu’s goal. The travelling fans endured their team conceding two ludicrous penalties before half-time. Enzo Fernández scored the first – conceded by the former Burnley and Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst – and handed the second to Estêvão.
Chelsea, who named the second-youngest lineup by an English side in Champions League history, had led 2-0 through a deflected drive from Moisés Caicedo. They had not scored four in the first half of a game at this level since 2011. The only blemish came from Tosin Adarabioyo giving away a penalty at 2-0, allowing Weghorst to grab a consolation. It was 5-1 when George, one of three half-time substitutions, drove in from 20 yards.
Maresca eased off. Reggie Walsh, who turned 17 on Monday, came on to become Chelsea’s youngest player in the Champions League. It is a sign of the times.
