Fun and exciting, Ajax back in Champions League semifinals

Ajax is a team that many soccer fans around the world just love to love, especially when they win with flair in a competition like the Champions League.

And this season's Ajax team has oodles of flair.

Much like the great "Total Football" squads from the early 1970s and the nearly unbeatable teams from the mid-1990s, Ajax and its latest homegrown side make watching soccer fun and exciting.

FILE - In this May 30, 1973 file photo, Ajax coach Stefan Kovacs raises the Champions Cup, carried in triumph by his players, after Ajax beat Juventus 1-0 in the final played in Belgrade. Ajax is a team that many soccer fans around the world just love to love, especially when they win with flair in a competition like the Champions League. Their victory against Juventus on Tuesday, April 16 - coming only a few weeks after the team eliminated three-time defending champion Real Madrid in the last 16 - put Ajax through to the semifinals 3-2 on aggregate. They will next face either Manchester City or Tottenham. (AP Photo,file)

Unless you're a fan of Juventus, or Real Madrid, or any of the team's rivals in the Dutch league.

"Yyyeeeeaaaahhhhhhhhh," former Ajax striker Patrick Kluivert wrote on Twitter, along with the final score in Ajax's 2-1 victory over Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juventus teammates in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. "Come on guys."

Kluivert had plenty to be happy about. He was the one who scored the only goal in Ajax's 1-0 win over AC Milan in the 1995 Champions League final, the last of the club's four European Cup titles.

Ajax's Donny van de Beek celebrates at the end of the Champions League, quarterfinal, second leg soccer match between Juventus and Ajax, at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Ajax won 2-1 and advances to the semifinal on a 3-2 aggregate. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Ajax followed that victory with another trip to the final in 1996 and a spot in the semifinals in 1997. Both times they lost to Juventus.

Tuesday's victory — coming only a few weeks after the team eliminated three-time defending champion Real Madrid in the last 16 — put Ajax through to the semifinals 3-2 on aggregate. They will next face either Manchester City or Tottenham.

"What a special @ChampionsLeague night in Turin," former Ajax and Juventus goalkeeper and current Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar wrote on Twitter. "Winning against @juventusfc and now we go to England for the semifinals."

FILE - In this June 2, 1971 file photo, Ajax striker Johan Cruyff, center, in action during the during the final of the European Cup against Greece's Panathinaikos, at Wembley Stadium, in London. Ajax is a team that many soccer fans around the world just love to love, especially when they win with flair in a competition like the Champions League. Their victory against Juventus on Tuesday, April 16 - coming only a few weeks after the team eliminated three-time defending champion Real Madrid in the last 16 - put Ajax through to the semifinals 3-2 on aggregate. They will next face either Manchester City or Tottenham. (AP PhotoLaurence Harris, File)

Van der Sar's tweet was accompanied by a short selfie video showing him in somewhat disbelief, laughing, screaming and pumping his fist in pure joy.

That excitement around the team is just as palpable as the excitement they create on the field, with midfielder Frenkie de Jong and 19-year-old captain Matthijs de Ligt leading the way.

But Ajax has gone through this before. The team's highs and lows are well known and well documented.

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 24, 1995 file photo, Ajax's Patrick Kluivert, center, who scored the only goal of the match holds the trophy in joy after Ajax won the European Champions Cup against AC Milan, in Vienna. Ajax is a team that many soccer fans around the world just love to love, especially when they win with flair in a competition like the Champions League. Their victory against Juventus on Tuesday, April 16 - coming only a few weeks after the team eliminated three-time defending champion Real Madrid in the last 16 - put Ajax through to the semifinals 3-2 on aggregate. They will next face either Manchester City or Tottenham. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno, File)

"For many years Dutch football kept getting worse, but now we're coming back," Ajax coach Erik ten Hag said. "In every country there are better periods and ones that aren't as good.

"We're a small footballing country, it can happen that sometimes things don't go well but now there are incredible talents and with them things can only get better."

The first great Ajax run started with Johann Cryuff and Rinus Michels in the early 1970s. Michels, who was the coach of the team, is widely credited with helping create "Total Football," a flowing, attacking style of play which made Ajax the darlings of the game. Cruyff was the face of the project, becoming one of the greatest to ever play.

Ajax's Matthijs de Ligt and teammates celebrate at the end of the Champions League, quarterfinal, second leg soccer match between Juventus and Ajax, at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Ajax won 2-1 and advances to the semifinal on a 3-2 aggregate. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

But after winning the European Cup — the precursor to the Champions League — in 1971, Michels left for Barcelona. After winning the title again in 1972 and 1973, Cryuff left for Barcelona and the decline began.

The team in the 1990s went through a similar fate, with players being sold off to make money for the club.

And this year's Ajax can expect the same with De Jong headed to Barcelona next season in a deal that could be worth up to 86 million euros ($98 million).

Ajax coach Erik Ten Hag gestures during the Champions League quarter final, second leg soccer match between Juventus and Ajax, at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

"If we play well, it's normal that players leave," Ten Hag said. "We're not Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City or Juventus. It depends on the economy of football, but we're creative in building the team, with balance.

"We play with a philosophy and we will do so in the upcoming years, too. We will fight for every player, I hope to not lose too many."

The next step may be to go back to "The Future" — the name of the club's storied youth academy.

"Several players will leave but Ajax's youth academy is strong," Ten Hag said. "We also have a very good scouting system. If some players leave, we will bring in other strong ones to go forward and to grow.

"We start again from zero every season."

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NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Bichette and the New York Mets agreed Friday to a $126 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced.

A two-time All-Star at shortstop with the Toronto Blue Jays, Bichette will move to third base with the Mets, who have Francisco Lindor at shortstop. Bichette has never played a professional game at the hot corner.

Bichette can opt out of the deal after the first or second season to become a free agent again. He would receive $47 million for one year and $89 million for two years, the person said.

If he opts out, the Mets could not make him a qualifying offer, so they would not receive a draft pick as compensation if he signed elsewhere.

The deal does not contain any deferred money and Bichette gets a full no-trade provision.

Bichette batted .311 with 18 home runs, 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS in 139 games for the Blue Jays last year. He homered off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bichette sprained his left knee late last season in a Sept. 6 collision with New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells, keeping the infielder out of the lineup until the World Series. He returned for Game 1 against the Dodgers and played second base for the first time in six years.

Bichette led the American League in hits in 2021 and again in 2022. He finished second in the major leagues in batting average last season to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.

Bichette turned down a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from the Blue Jays in November, so they would receive an extra draft pick in July after the fourth round if he completes his deal with New York.

He was one of the last remaining big-name hitters on the free agent market after Kyle Tucker agreed Thursday to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Dodgers.

Bichette, who turns 28 in March, has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays since they selected him in the second round of the 2016 amateur draft. He is a .294 career hitter with 111 home runs and an .806 OPS in 748 major league games.

He is a son of former big league slugger Dante Bichette, a four-time All-Star outfielder.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

FILE - Toronto Blue Jays' Bo Bichette celebrates his three run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning in Game 7 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Toronto. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

FILE - New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns responds to questions during a news conference about MLB trade deadline deals, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, File)