For a team like Ajax, there is an expectation of how a season should pan out. As the most successful club in the Netherlands, it is rare for de Godenzonen to not win anything at all, so the majority of supporters head into any campaign expecting to see the club lift some silverware in May.
After a rough couple of years, seeing the club finish third and then fifth after winning the title in three of the previous four seasons and only missing out on the 2019-2020 one thanks to the global health crisis, the hope was that the Amsterdam side would return to the top. How did things pan out?
A Devastating League Season
When Ajax played Willem II away from home on the 13th of April, winning 2-1, it looked as though the title was little more than a formality. A fortnight earlier, they had beaten the only real challengers, PSV Eindhoven, 2-0 in their own ground, all but ending discussion of a title race. With just seven games remaining, even the PSV captain conceded that the club was looking to secure second place. They were nine points behind with just 21 remaining, meaning they needed to be perfect at the same time as they needed Ajax to slip and stumble, which sure wasn’t going to happen.
Only, that’s exactly what happened. PSV won six games in a row to head into the final game of the season knowing that they still had a chance. Ajax had won the first two after the PSV game, but then fell to a shock 4-0 loss to Utrecht on the road. A home draw to Sparta Rotterdam further emboldened PSV, before another loss, this time to NEC, sent shockwaves through the Eredivisie. If they won their final two matches then Ajax would still win the title, so when they 2-1 up against Groningen with nothing left to play, it looked like they’d done their job in the second to last game.
@fieldside 🇳🇱🤯 Crazy scenes in the Eredivisie! #psv #football #ajax #eredivisie #netherlands #footballtiktok #fyp #stadium #limbs #sport ♬ original sound – fieldside.
Then Luciano Valente was sent off in the 93rd minute and victory was all but assured. Except for the fact that it wasn’t. In the 99th minute, Groningen won a free-kick and Thijmen Blokzijl scored with a right-footed shot low into the corner to send the home crowd delirious. In spite of another four minutes of added time, the game ended 2-2 and PSV’s 4-1 win over Heracles meant that they moved a point above Ajax. If they won their final home game, they would be champions at de Godenzonen’s expense. That’s exactly what happened, breaking Ajax hearts in the process.
No Joy in Cups Either
The league heartbreak is something that Ajax players, supporters and management team might take some time to get over. Compared to the manner in which they lost it, the fact that they also failed to win either of the cups that they were playing in will not really even register. Even so, the best managers are aware of the fact that winning a cup competition can keep things ticking over and get players used to enjoying some success, so there will have been a hope that they could do something in either the KNVB Cup or the UEFA Europa League, perhaps winning one of them.
In the KNVB Cup, they only made it to the round of 16, at which point they came up against AZ and lost. Having beaten Telstar 2-0 in the second round, a loss by the same score in the last 16 wasn’t something that supporters were going to worry about too much. After all, the reality of the situation was such that the club was determined to win the Eredivisie title for the first time since 2022 and not having to worry about the cups would allow the players to focus and conserve energy. As a result, a 2-0 loss on the road wasn’t something that people with bigger fish to fry were going to worry about.
We finish the 24/25 season in second place.
— AFC Ajax (@afc-ajax.bsky.social) May 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
In the Europa League, meanwhile, the Amsterdam side had made it into the tournament thanks to the qualifying rounds, ending up 12th in the new-look league table. That meant that they had to play in the knockout phase play-offs, winning 3-2 on aggregate against Union Saint-Gilloise in order to set up a round of 16 tie against Eintracht Frankfurt. Having lost the first-leg 2-1, they then lost the second 4-1 to get knocked out with an aggregate score of 6-2. Knowing that an appalling Manchester United or a dreadful Tottenham Hotspur side would end up winning it, the lack of success in the Europa League will have felt like a missed opportunity for a team that suffered a nightmare season.