Tadic left Southampton for Ajax in 2018 and put in a masterclass to destroy Los Blancos in their last-16 second leg.
Ajax sent shockwaves through European football as they not only ended Real Madrid’s three-year stranglehold on the trophy, but they did so in brutal style on their patch.
Los Blancos sensationally won the trophy in 2016, 2017 and 2018, as well as in 2014, and after winning 2-1 at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, they were favourites to complete the task at the Bernabeu.
That’s not how it turned out, however. as the Eredivisie side ran out 4-1 winners in a scintillating display of attacking football, with Hakim Ziyech, David Neres, Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schone grabbing the goals.
Although Marco Asensio scored to make it 3-1 prior to Schone’s free kick, Santiago Solari’s charges were completely overrun by Ajax, who progress from a Champions League knockout tie for the first time in 22 years.
Tadic was especially fantastic as he not only assisted his side’s first two goals, but added a third as he whipped an effort into the top corner from the edge of the area – he was so impressive, in fact, that L’Equipe gave him an extremely rare 10 rating.
Tadic has certainly come a long way since leaving Southampton last summer – as impressive as he was in the Eredivisie, he has now written his name in Champions League history with his role in Tuesday night’s performance in Madrid.
Here is how some Saints fans reacted on Twitter to the display:
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