A distraught Matthijs de Ligt says Ajax are living in a "nightmare" after the Dutch champions let a three-goal lead slip as Tottenham knocked them out of the Champions League semi-finals in Amsterdam.
Tottenham replicated Liverpool's Champions League miracle as Lucas Moura's dramatic second-half hat-trick set up a stunning 3-2 win over Ajax - and an all-English final.
Spurs were dead and buried at half-time in the second leg at the Johan Cryuff ArenA as they trailed 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate after goals from 19-year-old captain De Ligt and Hakim Ziyech.
However, a miraculous comeback, spearheaded by Lucas, was completed deep into added time when the Brazilian slotted home a loose ball to seal away goals success and spark amazing scenes in Amsterdam.
For Ajax, a brilliant run in this competition, where they beat Real Madrid and Juventus in previous rounds, ended in the most heartbreaking of ways and with their side set to be picked apart in the summer, they are unlikely to have a better chance of winning European football's premier club competition than this.
"It's a nightmare, like a dream that went bad," De Ligt told Dutch television shortly after full-time.
"We played well in the first half, we had it all our way.
"We didn't keep up the same pressure in the second half.
"We gave silly goals away. We were so close to the final and then the ball goes in. Unbelievable."
Additional reporting by Reuters and the Press Association.
