A long standing record of victory over Ajax broken by the Dutch underdogs in Turin, Tuesday, not only put an end to Juventus’ hopes of clinching the coveted European champions league title and Cristiano Ronaldo’s chance at glory for the fourth consecutive time, but saw the market punish the old ladies of Italy in an emphatic way.
Shares of Juventus plummeted as much as 23 percent, the most in a day since the start of 2019, wiping off $453 million, in the evening many supporters of the Italian club and fans of the iconic Cr7 worldwide would be in a hurry to forget.
In the game on Tuesday, an iconic header by former Real Madrid striker, Ronaldo, in the 28th minute was countered by two strikes from Ajax’s Van de Beek and De Legit, putting Juventus to the sword.
The bitter aftertaste of defeat, for Juventus however, remained evident as shares traded at 1.42 euros in the early hours of Wednesday, European Daylight Time (EDT) compared to 1.69 euros which it opened at on match day.
As expected, shares of Amsterdam based club, Ajax soared to its year-high of 18.45 euros, although it gained as much as 9 percent to 19.00 euros around 3am EDT on Wednesday.
The rise in Ajax stock is on the back of financial gains up to 31 million Euros the club could rake in as prize for its success in the Champions League Campaign so far.
Ajax, which knocked Real Madrid out of the competition in the round of 16, already has 12 million euros ($13.6 million) out of the 31 million euros in prize money for crossing the hurdle into the semis and would make the 19 extra if it continues to upset the competition.
Bloomberg reports that potential prize for Ajax is up to a third of its annual revenue. The adjusted revenue of Ajax was put at about 92 million euros in 2018.
Despite the defeat, Juventus still has a silverware to celebrate in the on-going season given their 20 points lead ahead of second placed domestic league rivals, Napoli. Ronaldo was signed from La-liga side Real Madrid for 100 million euros in 2018.
