As the replay cycled through different camera angles of Alessandro's assist, the match resumed.
The scoreboard read: Manchester United 2 – Ajax 0.
3–2 on aggregate.
With the away goals rule in their favor, United now had full control.
Ajax?
They had no choice but to push forward.
They needed a goal—fast.
But their urgency was reckless.
Moments after kickoff, Christian Eriksen tried to thread a vertical ball forward—Alessandro read it like a book and cut it out cleanly.
He didn't celebrate.
Just kept the ball moving. Dictating the rhythm. Slowing things down when needed. Accelerating when space opened up.
From that point on, United suffocated Ajax.
Possession tilted sharply.
And at the heart of it all, the one directing tempo and flow?
Alessandro.
---
Ajax adjusted. They tried to man-mark him.
Didn't matter.
He passed quicker. Moved faster.
Before they could press, he was already gone. A pass-and-move ghost slipping between their defensive lines.
What frustrated Ajax the most wasn't just his control—it was his anticipation.
He was always a second ahead.
And just when they thought they'd finally smothered him, he'd find the one open lane to escape.
---
In the 67th minute, Alessandro took the ball deep in midfield.
Ajax started to swarm again.
So he dropped it back to Michael Keane.
Simple. Calm.
Then spun away and jogged back into space.
Keane returned it.
Alessandro took it in stride and immediately switched it left to Ashley Young.
And then—he moved.
He never stopped.
---
Sim de Jong tracked him.
He knew Alessandro was the source. The one they had to stop.
But when Alessandro cut diagonally and dragged de Jong toward Eriksen, he disrupted Ajax's shape in a single movement.
A flick of the hand—Ashley Young spotted it. Shifted the ball inside to Cleverley.
Cleverley didn't think. Just tapped it back.
Alessandro was already there.
And now?
Now he was surrounded.
Four Ajax players converged. They didn't go for the tackle—they boxed in the passing lanes, trying to choke the move before it started.
But they missed something.
They forgot Alessandro could dribble too.
---
He took one touch, shifted his weight, and turned.
The lane opened—barely.
He surged forward.
The defenders scattered.
They weren't ready.
And now United were flooding the final third.
He slid it left to Ashley Young again.
Young didn't wait. Whipped in a cross across the box.
Welbeck made the first run.
His shot ricocheted off a defender—loose ball in the box.
It bounced straight into space.
And into the path of one man.
---
"Alessandro!!"
The commentators gasped.
He was there again.
Timing perfect.
No defender near him.
No hesitation.
He met it first time with his instep—power and placement.
The shot slammed off the underside of the crossbar and smashed into the net.
3–0.
---
Alessandro didn't yell. Didn't punch the air.
He just sprinted toward the corner flag, arms wide, then dropped to his knees.
Two goals. One assist.
He hadn't just played well.
He had dominated.
---
Zhang Jun's voice rose:
"Alessandro!!! Brilliant!! He's done it again—two goals!!"
"Three-nil at the Cruyff Arena! He didn't just control the match—he directed a masterclass!"
"He's now scored the second goal ever by a Dragon Kingdom player in European competition—and the first to do it twice in one match!"
---
From that moment on, Ajax had no more answers.
They threw men forward in desperation.
But they were broken.
Every time they tried to rebuild possession, Manchester United—anchored by Alessandro—broke it apart.
And when United held the ball?
They didn't let go.
The tempo was slow. Cold. Controlled.
By the 90th minute, the result was clear.
The whistle blew.
Manchester United 3. Ajax 0.
Aggregate: 4–2.
United were through.
---
The camera immediately locked in on one player.
Alessandro.
---
The world had watched.
They'd seen him intercept.
They'd seen him create.
They'd seen him score.
Now his name would echo across every headline in Europe.
He hadn't just played.
He'd arrived.
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