Chapter 240 - 233: New Standard-Bearer

The evening of October 19th, at the Amsterdam Arena.

In the third round of the Champions League Group C matches, Ajax faced Maccabi Tel Aviv at home.

The visiting team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, kicked off first.

Ajax continued with their 4-3-3 formation for this match.

The goalkeeper was Stekelenburg. The defensive line consisted of Maxwell, Vermaelen, Heitinga, and Maicon. The midfield was a partnership of Pinaar, De Jong, and Sneijder, while Wesley Sonck, Charisteas, and Yang Yang formed the attacking trident.

This was Yang Yang’s first starting appearance for Ajax since the end of August.

Many Ajax fans in the stadium unfurled flags and banners to welcome Yang Yang, showing their high expectations and regard for him.

From the start of the match, Maccabi Tel Aviv adopted a defensive, counter-attacking posture. Ajax smoothly took control of the game, and Yang Yang frequently made runs, constantly looking for opportunities.

In the fourth minute, Yang Yang finally found an open space. Sneijder, understanding his intention perfectly, sent the ball through the gap between the opposing center-back and full-back, landing it in the penalty area behind their defensive line.

Yang Yang cut diagonally into the space at top speed. He got to the ball first, controlled it with a single touch, and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. With a calm push, he sent the ball through the keeper’s legs and into the net behind him.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Ajax takes the lead just four minutes into the game!"

"Yang Yang! The wonder boy, about to turn eighteen, once again shows his incredible talent!"

"After coming on as a substitute to assist the crucial goal just before the end of the last match, he now scores the opener for Ajax just four minutes into his first start. This will be Yang Yang’s first Champions League goal of the season."

The fifty thousand Ajax fans in the stadium leaped from their seats, roaring wildly.

For the past two months, they had been holding it all in, and it had been too long and too difficult.

No one had expected the defending champions, Ajax, to be drawn against Juventus and Bayern Munich. And in the first two rounds, they had suffered humiliating defeats against these giants, losing 0-1 to Juventus at home and being thrashed 0-4 by Bayern Munich away.

For a team that had just won the Champions League, this was as bad as it could possibly get.

Everyone could understand that Ajax’s performance might decline, but no one was willing to calmly accept it.

And at this critical moment, Yang Yang once again stepped up to save the team.

One-nil. Ajax had taken the lead just four minutes into the game.

"Yang Yang’s goal owes a lot to Sneijder’s assist. Sneijder’s pass precisely tore apart Maccabi Tel Aviv’s defense, and Yang Yang’s brilliant run was perfectly timed to arrive in the most dangerous area."

"This was a display of perfect chemistry between two of Ajax’s attackers, Yang Yang and Sneijder!"

After celebrating with a knee slide on the sideline, Yang Yang stood up and embraced Sneijder, who had rushed over to him.

Their surrounding teammates all came over to celebrate as well.

Maccabi Tel Aviv was indeed not as strong as Ajax, but no one had expected the match to start so smoothly. This could definitely turn into a huge victory.

And right now, Ajax desperately needed a huge victory!

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After scoring the first goal, Ajax played with more patience, and the players’ morale soared.

Fifteen minutes later, the team created another chance.

Yang Yang received the ball on the right wing, suddenly cut inside, drawing away a defender, then passed it back out to the right flank for the overlapping Maicon. When Maicon delivered a cross from the byline, it was cleared by an opposing center-back’s header.

Yang Yang was feeling good and volunteered to take the corner kick.

The corner kick landed precisely in the penalty area. Vermaelen headed it toward the edge of the box, where Sneijder met it with a powerful shot, scoring another goal for Ajax. Two-nil.

Scoring two in a row filled everyone at Ajax with confidence, and their advantage in passing and possession became even more apparent.

In the thirty-third minute, a right-wing attack by Yang Yang came to nothing. Sneijder switched the play to the left wing with a long ball. Maxwell passed to Wesley Sonck, and the Belgian sent a horizontal pass into the penalty area. Pinaar followed up with a shot, and it was a goal. Three-nil!

They were unstoppable!

In the first half, Ajax launched a ferocious and menacing offensive, completely pinning Maccabi Tel Aviv in their own half and giving them a sound thrashing.

During halftime, Ronald Koeman was full of praise for the team’s performance, especially for Yang Yang’s opening goal, which he rated very highly. He also encouraged the team to keep up the effort.

"We need to score more goals. We don’t just want to win, we want to win beautifully!"

Maccabi Tel Aviv realized that Ajax had found their form and rhythm. During halftime, they subbed off two players at once, hoping to block Ajax’s attack and stabilize their own tempo.

But their defense only held for ten minutes.

In the fifty-seventh minute of the second half, Sneijder passed the ball to the overlapping Maicon on the right, who then passed it to Yang Yang in the space on the right side of the penalty area.

After receiving the ball, Yang Yang turned and cut inside, then played a diagonal pass behind the defense with his left foot.

This pass was very similar to the one he had made to Pinaar in the match against Roda JC. The difference was that Wesley Sonck was faster and his movement was more agile. He quickly burst into the box and hit a volley directly.

The ball found the back of the net again. Four-nil!

The team had mounted a continuous attack, and Ronald Koeman and the coaching staff were thrilled. Nevertheless, in the sixtieth minute, they substituted Yang Yang, bringing on Daniel Driedger.

The reason was simple: Ajax would be playing away against Eindhoven this weekend.

This would be a crucial battle, deciding whether Ajax could turn their fortunes around.

And Ronald Koeman and the coaching staff believed that Yang Yang would be the key to the team’s victory.

After Yang Yang was subbed off, Ajax’s offensive pressure did not let up.

In the eighty-eighth minute, Charisteas was fouled while challenging for a header inside the box. An opposing player pushed him down, and the referee unhesitatingly awarded a penalty. The Greek center-forward took the penalty himself and scored, changing the score to five-nil.

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A five-goal rout. Ajax secured a resounding victory at home.

This earned Ronald Koeman’s team unanimous praise from the Dutch media and fans. Everyone was convinced that the young Chinese player Yang Yang, who would turn eighteen at the end of the month, was gradually becoming a key figure for Ajax.

At the start of the season, when Yang Yang was on the team, they had two wins and one draw in the domestic league, keeping pace with the leading pack of Eindhoven and Feyenoord. But after losing Yang Yang, Ajax managed two draws and two losses in the subsequent four matches, dropping a full ten points and falling behind their rivals.

Now, after Yang Yang’s return, he had assisted Charisteas for the 1-0 game-winner against Roda JC, and in the Champions League group stage, he had one goal and one assist, helping the team to a five-goal victory. Ajax had now won two in a row, and the players’ performance was completely different from before.

"After Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic, Ajax has been searching for a new standard-bearer for the team. Who can become Ajax’s new leader, the core and soul of the team? This has always been a topic of concern for the media and fans."

"Based on his performance this season, Sneijder has the ability, but he’s limited by his position on the field and his usually low-key, reserved personality. He’s not really suited to be a standard-bearer. Yang Yang, however, is gradually showing potential in this area."

"If before everyone was just guessing that he could be the one, then in the last two matches, Yang Yang has proven with his outstanding performance that an Ajax with him is the real Ajax."

"This also makes us look forward even more to the away match against Eindhoven this weekend."

"If Yang Yang wants to further prove that he can fill the void left by the departures of Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic, he must deliver a convincing performance in this crucial match."

Ajax legend Van Basten, the Netherlands’ head coach who once managed Yang Yang on the second team, stated in a media interview that while Yang Yang has indeed become a crucial member of Ajax, he shouldn’t be hyped up too much.

"He’s not even eighteen yet. It’s not right to put too much pressure and burden on him now. On the contrary, we should give him a relaxed environment and atmosphere to let him continue to grow and improve, not push him too hard too soon."

At the same time, Van Basten also said that compared to when he coached him, Yang Yang’s improvement is very obvious. His fundamentals are a given, his ball control is now very good, and his one-on-one dribbling ability has become one of the best in the Eredivisie.

"I think he could also be a bit more aggressive, for example, by attacking the opponent’s penalty area more."

"I’ve watched Yang Yang play for the National Team. His attacking ability is very strong, his short-range explosiveness is excellent, and his positioning and instincts are very sharp. All of this proves that he has the potential to become an outstanding goalscorer."

"Given Ajax’s current situation, having Yang Yang take on more goalscoring responsibility is also in the team’s best interest and meets their needs."

Van Basten’s comments were clearly intended to protect and promote his former protégé, Yang Yang, but they sparked a heated debate among the Dutch media and Ajax fans. Everyone agreed that Yang Yang should indeed take on more responsibility.

Charisteas’s scoring ability isn’t strong, but his tactical role is clear. Wesley Sonck’s scoring efficiency has been very inconsistent this season, especially without Yang Yang, when he is unable to lead the team’s attack.

This made it necessary for Ajax to find a main attacking focal point.

Yang Yang was undoubtedly a very suitable candidate.

Although his scoring ability wasn’t strong enough yet, it could be developed. Given his rate of improvement, it was believed he could soon shoulder this heavy burden.

After all, he wasn’t even eighteen yet.

Compared to Ajax’s unstoppable performance in the third group stage match, Eindhoven’s victory in the Champions League was a much more perilous one.

Hiddink’s team played away against Rosenborg. They scored first in the twenty-sixth minute of the first half, but the opponent equalized just before halftime. It wasn’t until just before the end of the match that John De Jong scored the game-winner for Eindhoven.

After this victory, Eindhoven had two wins and one loss, placing them second in the group behind Arsenal.

But this was partly due to Eindhoven’s luck in the draw. Besides Arsenal and Rosenborg, the other team in their group was Panathinaikos.

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The evening of October 23rd, at Eindhoven’s Philips Stadium.

Eredivisie, Matchday 9. Eindhoven versus Ajax at home.

As this high-profile match, watched by all of the Netherlands, reached the forty-fourth minute, with the first half about to end, the score was still nil-nil.

But just then, Yang Yang dribbled past the South Korean player Lee Yong-Soo and charged into Eindhoven’s penalty area.