Francesco Farioli's side have thrown away a nine-point lead in the space of just four games to now trail PSV going into the final round of matches
It's often argued that winning is the only thing that matters in football, with the implication being that nobody remembers the runners-up. It's simply not true, of course.
Sometimes, the story of a season is not the team that claimed the title, but the one that threw it away. Ask anyone about the 1995-96 Premier League campaign and Kevin Keegan's Newcastle will be the side that immediately comes to mind, while the abiding memory of the 2001-02 Serie A title race is Ronaldo in tears at the Stadio Olimpico as Inter gifted the Scudetto to Juventus.
And who could forget Real Madrid's Galacticos going from first to fourth in La Liga by losing six of their final seven games in 2003-04 – or Steven Gerrard's infamous slip at Anfield a decade later? Botafogo, meanwhile, would never have gotten over their historic Brasileiro collapse in 2023 had they not won both the league and the Copa Libertadores last year. As for Bayer Leverkusen, they became so synonymous with falling at the final hurdle that they were known as 'Neverkusen' until Xabi Alonso came along.
There's a very real possibility, then, that Ajax's 2024-25 season will forever be remembered for all the wrong reasons, with Francesco Farioli's men now in real danger of adding their name to the list of football's biggest bottle-jobs..
AFP'Humble joy'
All of Ajax's players were grinning from ear to ear after a hugely impressive 2-0 win over PSV on March 30 – and rightly so. Victory in Eindhoven had propelled them nine points clear of their second-placed rivals at the top of the Eredivisie standings with just seven rounds remaining.
That looked and felt like an unassailable lead, particularly for a team on a 12-game unbeaten run in the league. But vice-captain Davy Klaassen unsurprisingly called for calm in his post-match interview.
"The further you get into the season, the more important the games become and this was a very important one," the midfielder told Ajax's official website. "But we approach every game individually. I think it's one of our strengths. So, there was joy in the dressing room afterwards, but not too much. I would call it humble joy.
"It's not like we won a prize here. The prizes will be handed out at the end of the season."
AdvertisementGetty Images'The championship is done'
However, while Klaasen refused to make any bold declarations regarding the title race, PSV's players had no issue stating that it was already over as far as they were concerned.
"We've now lost to Ajax twice this season," winger Noa Lang told. "The championship is done now. Apparently, we couldn't handle the pressure. Ajax were better than us but we just threw it away ourselves. That is the reality. We just have to finish second now; otherwise we will end up in the preliminary round of the Champions League."
Tellingly, not even PSV captain Luuk de Jong had any fight left in him. On the contrary, the veteran striker agreed with Lang's assessment that automatic qualification for the Champions League was all last season's Dutch title-winners had left to play for with Ajax in such fine form.
"Nine points is too much," De Jong sighed. "I don't think it's ever happened before that a team has been overtaken with such a lead and with so few games remaining."
There's always a first time for everything, though…
AFP'Important result'
The feeling that the title was destined for Amsterdam only intensified after Ajax came from a goal down with just over 15 minutes to play to beat Willem II 2-1 on April 13 thanks to a quick-fire double from substitutes Oliver Edvardsen and Wout Weghorst.
"I wanted to change the dynamic," Farioli said of his decisive changes. "The statistics were unreal: in the first half, we had more than 30 touches in Willem II's penalty area but they defended really well, so it wasn't easy. The only thing is we lacked some aggression in the penalty area. But, in the second half, I did see that we were more determined to score and this is a very important result."
There was no disputing that claim as it left Ajax needing just seven points from their five remaining fixtures to clinch a 37th title. Farioli added: "We've five finals left to play." Incredibly, they've failed to win any of the first four.
AFP'Everything went against us'
Farioli felt that the stunning 4-0 loss at Utrecht on April 20 was an anomaly, arguing that the scoreline flattered the hosts and that Ajax had actually played "fairly well".
"Unfortunately, our good play wasn't rewarded," the Italian said. "The team was disappointed with the scale of the defeat – everything went against us. We need to accept that it happened and learn from it. Just like after any other match, we have to move on. Whether the result was good or bad, it's always about the next match and we're ready for Sparta at home."
They clearly weren't, though, as Ajax needed a 97th-minute equaliser from Youri Reeger to claim a 1-1 draw with Sparta Rotterdam the following weekend. "It's an important point," Weghorst insisted. "We kept going after conceding. We showed we have the mentality to come back."
Ajax's mentality, though, is the very thing that is now being questioned after Sunday's shocking 3-0 loss to NEC at the Johan Cruyff Arena was followed up on Wednesday by conceding a 99th-minute equaliser away to 10-man Groningen, meaning they have dropped 10 points in the space of just four games to not only throw away their lead atop the table, but fall behind PSV heading into Sunday's final round.