Cristiano Ronaldo on target again but Ajax refuse to be bowed to set up fascinating return leg in Turin

from Luke Edwards.

A very good game. Ajax the better, brighter and more appealing but this Juventus side have seen it all really, and did themselves carry plenty of threat on occasion. 

Three minutes added, can Juventus deliver a cruel blow? They play it forward. Repelled. Now another attack, and Ronaldo is stopped unfairly. That's the last action, and it's all square after the first leg!

Danger here, a snaking low cross for Juve, with Ronaldo lurking in the centre, and the keeper needs to make an intervention.

Ajax are desperately trying to get the extra goal that their performance deserves and which they might well need to get through this tie. A neat and clever move is curtailed by the offside flag for Neres.

Douglas Costa! He's not done much, but he has beaten his man (Veltman I think?) with a magic bit of quick feet, the old soft shoe and he's away... surges forward, splendid sight, and he fires low and hard, beating the keeper..  BUT not the goalpost! It hits the woodwork and goes safe. Unlucky, Dougie.

Ridiculous bit of grappling from Pjanic-on-the-streets-of-Carlisle as he gets a good hold of wee Neres and yanks and twists him like someone trying to open an impregnable jar of salad cream.

Ooh and young Ekkelenkamp nearly has a dream moment! A simply lovely control and backheel from Tadic, what a player HE is, and Ekkelenkamp fires a hard low shot. Well stopped.

Douglas Costa crosses, but weakly.

 Jurgen Ekkelenkamp replaces the booked Lasse Schöne. Jurgen looks about 13.

Matthijs de Ligt shoots from distance, Frenkie de Jong the man who fed him.

Eventually the game restarts, but Juve then bring off Cheryl Matuidi and introduce Pablo Dybala anyway. Bit weird.

Blaise Matuidi has had a knock. He's okay to continue.

Ziyech finds Tadic, who donks it over the defenders to Van der Beek! Or, the offside Van der Beek, as it turns out.

Schone chops down the zippy Bernardeschi. Yeller.

De Light with a crunching tackle on Ronaldo, and if you can't enjoy a 19-y-o boy genius giving ole Ronnie a sore one then frankly this sport might not be for you.

Ajax the better team but I think if I was a betting type I'd fancy Juve for the next goal...

This Neres is a lovely lively eel of a fellow. He's down that left flank like a writhing sliding thing, far too nimble and spry for the Juventus heavy mob, into the box and then SCREEECH he puts the brakes on, has the presence of mind to cut it back... but it's not quite teed up and Tadic's effort goes wide.

Ziyech and Veltman have also had efforts. Dutchies are a-knockin'.

Big Mandzukic, not really his sort of game, comes off and Douglas Costa-Coffee comes on.

Schöne has  a crack but.... nah.

De Jong loses the ball, and figures that he might as well foul Canelo rather than risk him breaking. Obvious, cynical yellow card.

A bit of argy-bargy breaks out after that. The atmosphere is somewhat febrile, this ref looks a bit like he could be a plot-loser.

Neres has the ball in the net, but you could tell he was offside from Rotterdam. Surely they should have blown up for that earlier? Anyway.

Dead ball situation, into the Ajax box. Bentancur hits the desk under the lightest of pushes from Tagliafico, who is certainly looking  a candidate for a second or perhaps third yellow.

The Juventus players demand a VAR VAR VAR. Maybe they should be allowed one review per half or  game, following the example of cricket and tennis? Anyway, the Great Video God In The Sky rules NO PENALTY. Would have been a softy, but also a giveabley.

Ajax started the first half strongly, and have come out for the second dig like men possessed! Tagliafico charges forward and unleashes a thunderbison. Just wide. Juventus look shell-shocked.

But David Neres has scored a stunner! Kick off. Played back to the keeper. Hit down the left. Full back Cavaco Cancelo is still thinking about his halftime smoke and a pancake, or whatever it is that they give you in Amsterdam, and he's just dreaming. Controls it, and pauses, and is robbed.

Neres drives forward, into the box, and smashes it! Goal! 

Real gut punch on the stroke of half time.... 

Ajax bright, busy, sometimes brilliant - but did not convert their chances, and with Ronaldo in the opposition you are always leaving yourself vulnerable. The great man had a quiet half by his own standards, but has made the game's key intervention with that shapely head of his.

Shane O'Leary writes: "I'm torn. Obviously, we all want the young upstarts to win, but might it not be dangerous to thwart Terminator Ronnie and his undead chums?"

There it is, Cristiano Ronaldo's inter city 125. His side have been under the pump but this ageless genius can never be ignored. Juventus push forward, a João Cancelo cross comes in from the right and there is Ronaldo arriving at speed, he's lost his marker and he plants the head on it to. Keeper gets a touch but it's too powerful. 125 goals in the Champions League, say what you like about the guy but he is an absolute goal machine at the business end of the biggest competition in club football.

Clear foul by Bentancur on Neres jsut outside the box, but the ref plays on. Eccentric decision. Tagliafico of Ajax lunges for the ball, brings down his man and goes into the book. He misses the next match. That's hard lines I think - booked when the game probably should already have been stopped!

Talking of knockdowns, a ball is lofted into the Ajax area. Ronaldo rises to win it, nods it down for Bernardeschi, who cannot find the target. 

Some classy moves so far, but neither side has found its shooting boots as yet.

Ziyech feeds off a knockdown and lashes wide.

Bonucci, the wretch, with a foul from behind on Tadic.

Bentancur also tries his luck with a meh effort.

The story so far: a dominant Ajax bright and bushy tailed, Juventus looking a bit elderly and harassed. But still carrying a threat on the break.

Ronaldo, who has been quiet so far, volleys wide from a corner.

A mistake from Ajaz though! Veltman gives it away in midfield. Bentacur intercepts, carries it, and frees Bernardeschi, who is arriving like a steam train on the right. But here is Frenkie de Jong, arriving like a ... bullet? train... anyway, very quick. He produces a glorious covering tackle.

The sides trade corners.

Ajax are at it! And they are certainly at Juventus. A move down the left, the busy Tadić finds Van de Beek in the penalty area. He shifts, makes space, and shoots.... wide.

Tagliafico nobbles Bernardeschi, Mandzukic fouls de Ligt.

But an excellent move from Ajax leads to the nearest thing we've had to a goal so far: Ziyech's shot is tipped over by Szczesny

Better little spell for Juve, a corner and a decent freekick into the box.

Bernardeschi is the only Juve man to have caused any problems at all, but here his powerful run is ended in style by de Ligt

Ziyech and Tadic seem to have an excellent understanding. A nice one two, and Ziyech has the space to crack it at goal. Straight down the keeper's throat.

Ronaldo comes back into central midfield to provide an extra option, and also to hopefully impose a bit of calm on his men.

The experienced Italian side are rattled! The Ajax lads are at them constantly, pressing and forcing them back. Juve are trapped.

Ziyech! This is a very impressive pressing display so from Ajax, snapping and harrying at Juventus - and it leads to a shooting opportunity. Not far wide. Dusan Tadic the man who sent him through.

The first man to make an impression is Bernardeschi of Juventus, who drives forward and lets rip with a thunderous shot that flies only just wide. Ajax backed off him there and he nearly cashed in.

Exciting. Superb atmosphere.

Juventus thus:

Looking good, Amsterdam.

Peter Drury and Martin Keown your BT commentators. 

football match on telly tonight. I strongly fancy Barcelona to do United, Old Trafford or not. If you do too, Get double the odds on tonight's matches (T&Cs apply)

Ajax: Onana, Veltman, de Ligt, Blind, Tagliafico, Schone,  De Jong, Ziyech, van de Beek, David Neres, Tadic. Subs:  Bruno Varela, Kristensen, Sinkgraven, Huntelaar, Magallan,  Dolberg, Ekkelenkamp.

Juventus: Szczesny, Joao Cancelo, Bonucci, Rugani, Alex Sandro,  Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi, Bernardeschi, Mandzukic, Ronaldo.  Subs: Perin, De Sciglio, Khedira, Dybala, Douglas Costa, Kean,  Spinazzola.

Referee: Carlos Del Cerro (Spain) 

Ronaldo scored two for Man United as they humped Roma 7-1. He has scored 124 goals in 160 Champions League games, an absolutely sensational body of work from the preening Portuguese. 

has a music career or recording studio or record label now, judging from this BT Sport 3 feature.

He also has a little hat with 'Do The Sturridge' on it. Strong suggestion of the wally about young Daniel, I have always thought. Decent chap, certainly harmless, super player on his day but... a wally. 

Oh yes, look.

Nice piece here by Charlie Eccleshare about one of the most storied and envied player development programs in the world. It has allowed a club who have roughly the same spending might as Aston Villa to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Inside the Ajax talent factory: How Johan Cruyff's Velvet Revolution laid the foundation for latest golden age

there are deals to be had tonight. Get double the odds on tonight's matches (T&Cs apply)

God I love Holland. What a country. What a people.

Ditto Italia, to be fair. Although I haven't been to Turin. Juventus are not a loveable lot though, are they?

Neutrals: which of the European elite clubs do you have affection for / animosity against?

The 1996 Ajax side I mentioned was skippered by Danny Blind, and tonight's version features son Daley.

Tyers here. How ya doing? Two potentially splendid football matches on tonight: this here being Ajax against Juventus, at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. The main question about that, perhaps, is will Cristiano Ronaldo start for Juventus against Ajax?

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri says that he will 2as long as nothing happens. Cristiano has trained with the team and is available."

However, the Italian giants will have to do the business in Holland without the services of Giorgio Chiellini and Emre Can, weakening them in defence and defensive midfield.

Ajax came through the last round with a sensational result, thumping mighty Real Madrid in their own back yard to overturn a first leg deficit. That was surely the tie of the year, and one of the best of all time.

So from one of Ronaldo's former clubs to his current employers. This likeable and talented Ajax side are certainly getting some heavy draws...

This match is a renewal of the 1996  Champions League Final. Juve and the Ajax of Jari Litmanen, Edgar Davids, Kanu, the De Boers drew one-one (the mighty Finn scoring for the Dutch) and The White Feather for Juventus. Juve won on pens.