Ajax women knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in London against Chelsea

The surprisingly long UEFA Champions League season for Ajax women is over. Reaching the semi-finals seemed impossible after the 0-3 loss against Chelsea in Amsterdam last week, and that proved to be the case at Chelsea's stadium Stamford Bridge. The Amsterdammers had chances to win the game against a much-rotated Chelsea side, but it finished in a draw: 1-1.

Ajax is the first Dutch women's side to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League and had a record attendance of almost 36,000 fans at the Johan Cruijff ArenA last week. However, they had to concede that the league leaders in England were too good for the Dutch champions.

Manager Suzanne Bakker had said before the match that Ajax wanted to make it a good game in the return leg and show that they learned from the first match; the result was subordinate.

Bakker could not call on the suspended midfielder Lily Yohannes in London. Captain Sherida Spitse just returned from a suspension in the defense.

Ajax was able to keep up with Chelsea in the first minutes, just like last week. After more than fifteen minutes, the Amsterdam team had good opportunities through Romée Leuchter and Tiny Hoekstra. Hoekstra almost got lucky when goalkeeper Zecira Musovic kicked the ball against her, but the ball rolled against the post.

But Ajax also gave away a lot of space in this period, and the Colombian Mayra Ramírez took advantage of this after more than half an hour. After a won battle in midfield, Guro Reiten played it into the expensive signing signed in the winter, who scored. Ajax came away well with other good opportunities. Leuchter shot wide just before halftime.

The second half's first chance also belonged to Ajax's all-time top scorer, but Leuchter's shot lacked power. In the 65th minute, Chasity Grant, who was called up for the Dutch team, equalized from a pass from Hoekstra. Leuchter and Nadine Noordam had chances to score the winning goal, but their shots lacked power.

Chelsea qualified for the fifth time for the last four of the Champions League. The opponent will probably be defending champion FC Barcelona, which will protect a 2-1 lead from the first game on Thursday against SK Brann at home. Chelsea already reached the final in 2021.