Ajax Almost Blew It, But They Didn't

Ajax did their level best to bungle away their place in the Europa League final. Lyon did their level best to crawl out of the hole they had dug for themselves. In the end, the distance was too great. The hole was too deep.

Facing a 4-1 aggregate deficit, Lyon girded their loins and went out and let Ajax get the first goal, courtesy of youngster Kasper Dolberg.

Ajax had a plan to make it interesting, though. They let Alexandre Lacazette get two goals in two minutes right before halftime, and the game was on.

Then, nearing the end, Ajax decided the game wasn't exciting enough and had a man sent off and let Lyon score AGAIN.

Lyon, though, could not get over the hump, and were thusly banished from Europe. Sad!