The Champions League draw is always one of the most highly anticipated events at this stage of the season. The result of the quarter-final draw means Juve will be facing my old team and this could be another upset if the young Amsterdam team haven’t peaked too early in the tournament.

I have been enjoying seeing such a young side take on the giants without the financial backing that the big clubs have. Everyone loves an underdog, and when Marc Overmans came out and said the budget of the first team and the reserves is the same as the salary of Bale, it put their tie with Real Madrid in perspective.

I am not highlighting this because of the salary of bale but more to show the world that if you don’t have financial resources of the richest clubs in Europe, you need to be more creative. Ajax has used their model of nurturing and developing their own talents for many years and the new diamond they have is Frankie de Jong, who is going to Barcelona.

It means they will lose another talent and at the end of the season they will likely lose a few more,  but the belief of Ajax in reinventing themselves means this is one of the clubs where people always come to scout talent. There is a whole system in place to help grow talent, from not calling the trainers by their first name, the need to do well at school and an assessment twice each season to see if you will still be an Ajax player the following season. And of course that last one is the hardest thing for players to take and understand. Until today some players who never made it ask themselves why they didn’t go all the way. 

The answer is you should never give up no matter what.

That is exactly how the young boys play and what they teach you by saying you can beat any team if you believe and have the guts to play your game. That is what I expect from Ajax v Juve. It’s going to be a big game and they will face the mighty Cristiano Ronaldo. He will do whatever it takes to win the UCL with Juve. He has knocked them out of the competition a couple of times and now want to show the world that he can win it with 3 deferent teams, and that all Juve needed to win the UCL again was to sign him.

I hope this will be an opening game that is full of entertainment and I can’t wait to enjoy every minute of seeing two teams who want to win. #mmlove