Ajax was a legit threat to win and should have been in the final. Lyon bring during the covid bubble probably does not help on their side.

Remember Villareal’s other semi-final run when they lost against Arsenal in the semis. Forlan, Riquelme, Cazorla, Marcos Senna, Capdevilla… what a team, they were so fun to watch and they almost knocked Arsenal out if Riquelme didn’t miss that penalty

Because they reminded people of the Ajax 1995 team, that basically buttfucked all of Europe with a bunch of kids.

Ajax destroyed Real Madrid, who were the title holders for the third successive season that year, at the Bernabeu 4 goals to 1. That’s probably one of the biggest shocks of all time. The run was filled with spectacular upsets and memorable, highly dramatic football games.

That, in combination with their football heritage, is why people talk about Ajax and don’t about Villarreal and Lyon.

In my opinion Villareal and Lyon easily lost the semis and everyone expected that to happen, unlike Ajax who were in the finals right till the end. Maybe because of the style Ajax played, more attacking football and more attractive opponents they faced on their way. Just my opinion…

It has been a while since they got so close, and the team was super young. And they beat teams with pretty neat scores.

Ajax didn’t just beat Madrid they completely outplayed them. They also went toe to toe with Bayern who won it a year later. And were very unlucky not to be in the final and maybe could have won it.

Lol you’re right. I already forgot about Villarreal and Lyon semifinals despite it was after Ajax semifinal!

Monaco was the most entertaining imo, several were younger players, you knew the team was gonna get ripped apart but what a fun team to watch

I think they made it to semis, maybe just quarterfinals

That Villarreal run made me start appreciating them what they did is just wow

Probably because Ajax beat the greatest Real Madrid that came from winning the threepeat in the UCL and Ronaldo’s Juventus. Meanwhile Lyon and Villarreal lucked their way into the semifinals. While yes, Villarreal beating Bayern was impressive on its own right (take notes Barca), their collapse against Liverpool was less to be desired. Especially from goalkeeper Rulli who pulled a Karius and conceded two of the dumbest goals of all time when it looked like a possible comeback against Liverpool was real.

I honestly have no recollection of Lyon’s run mostly because of the sad state the club is in right now seeing them last in Ligue 1. But if I were to rank these teams in terms of underdog status it would be:

Ajax >>>>>>>>>>> Villarreal > Lyon

Because ten hag

Probably has something to do with the fact that Ajax side had some notable individuals with significant staying power since - most importantly it was their breakthrough season in European football

I mean De Ligt, De Jong, Onana, Ziyech, Mazraoui all went to some of the biggest teams in world football shortly after.

By comparison, Lyon in 19/20 for instance couldn’t offer any better by way of posterity than Depay. Nobody in that team has since been at a huge club, ergo less people talk about it.

The Villarreal side in the semis, are you talking about 06 or 2022? 22 just doesn’t have much by way of staying power for players involved. 06 team’s achievement just suffers from not being as recent.

Because Ajax didn’t just surprise everybody, they did it with good football and great results. That game against Real got Tadić a (well deserved but rare) 10/10 L’Equipe.

Ajax are a European superpower who have in recent years been hamstrung and left behind by the TV money brought in by the top leagues.

People want to see Ajax back amongst the top teams and are rooting for them to return to what they once were. Villarreal and others are good underdog stories, but nobody really thinks it’s possible for them to be at the top table of European football.

Did you watched it? There is your answer