I’ve often seen people talk about how Ajax reached the UCL semis in the 18/19 season and had a great season,but no one talks about Villarreal , they also had a great run to the UCL semi finals in 21/22 , teams like lyon also reached the semi finals in 19/20 ,yet no one talks about these teams.what was so great about Ajax’s run that season ?
Probably has something to do with the fact that Ajax side had some notable individuals with significant staying power since - most importantly it was their breakthrough season in European football
I mean De Ligt, De Jong, Onana, Ziyech, Mazraoui all went to some of the biggest teams in world football shortly after.
By comparison, Lyon in 19/20 for instance couldn’t offer any better by way of posterity than Depay. Nobody in that team has since been at a huge club, ergo less people talk about it.
The Villarreal side in the semis, are you talking about 06 or 2022? 22 just doesn’t have much by way of staying power for players involved. 06 team’s achievement just suffers from not being as recent.
lyon had players like bruno guimares, rayan cherki, and aouar.