Juventus shares plummet after shock Champions League defeat to Ajax

Juventus shares have plunged 17 per cent this morning as investors reacted to the Italian football giant’s heartbreak in the Champions League last night.

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The Old Lady of Italian football crashed out 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter finals to a resurgent Ajax team, who have now beaten both Juve and Real Madrid on their way to a semi final tie next month.

Ajax shares, on the other hand, were up 7.9 per cent this morning after their young team beat the experienced Italian side 2-1 on the night, defying the odds in Turin after a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam last week.

A first half goal from Juventus’ star man Cristiano Ronaldo, whose €100m purchase over the summer saw fans buy more than €50m worth of shirts in the subsequent 24 hours, was not enough to win after Ajax hit back with two strikes of their own.

Juventus are the 11th richest football club in the world, according to Deloitte's Football Money League.

Ajax will meet Manchester City or Tottenham, who just moved into their new state-of-the-art London stadium, in their first Champions League semi-final for 22 years. Many will consider them underdogs again, but shareholders in the Dutch side, a historic juggernaut of European football, will hope they can return to winning ways having gone without the premier continental trophy since 1995.

The result will almost certainly do nothing to stop Juventus romping to the lucrative Italian Serie A domestic league title, however, after the addition of Ronaldo in 2018 rendered them almost untouchable this season. Juventus are 17 points clear at the top of the league with six games to play.

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Meanwhile Ajax fans will hope the win buoys their team on to a strong finish to the season to secure a domestic victory of their own, as the Amsterdam side sits level on points with last year’s champions PSV Eindhoven with four fixtures remaining.