Unbelievable! Ajax advance to Europa League playoffs after crazy 13-12 penalty shootout win

It was a crazy night of football in the Europa League third-round qualifiers on Thursday (Aug 15) after Ajax advanced to the playoff round. The crazy win went down as a football moment of the year after a staggering 34 penalties were needed to settle the tie in the shootout win for Ajax against Greek side Panathinaikos. In the end, Ajax won the tie 13-12 and had goalkeeper Remko Pasveer to thank who made five saves in the shootout.

Ajax fail to win in normal time

Having won the first leg in Athens 1-0, Ajax needed a draw to reach the playoff round of the Europa League. They were on the brink of the next round until the 89th minute of the second legas they were drawing Panathinaikos 0-0 and advancing with an aggregate score of 1-0. However, the Greek side scored an 89th minute goal which saw the score level on aggregate and take the tie to extra time.

The sides were not separated after the extra time, meaning a penalty shootout was forced to determine the winner.

Penalty shootout drama

With the tie ending on level terms, the shootout produced more drama as a crazy spell of penalties took place. Panathinaikos took the first penalty of the shootout and missed on their opening chance, meaning Ajax had the advantage to win. With the score 4-4 after nine penalties (five from Panathinaikos, four from the home side) Ajax had the opportunity to win the tie on the 10th penalty. However, Ajax’s Brian Brobbey missed the opportunity to win the tie as he missed his penalty.

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The match went into sudden death, where Ajax would again miss two match-winning penalties. Interestingly, both goalkeepers also took part in the shootout and scored for their sides. After 11 penalties, the shootout sequence was repeated and needed few players to take penalties again. Interestingly, Brobbey who missed earlier in the shootout missed again adding to the frustration.

With Panathinaikos missing the 33rd penalty in the shootout, Ajax finally closed the tie with the winning penalty on the 34th attempt. Ajax’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Pasveer made five saves and scored a penalty to win the contest for his side.