Ajax were full of determination and desire as they headed to North London where Tottenham Hotspur would host the first of the Champions League.
With their match schedule considerably more sparse than that of Tottenham's, some had suggested that they had the physical advantage going into the match, while Spurs would have the wisdom and experience.
It was in fact Ajax who burst out of the starting blocks from the final whistle, almost immediately stamping their authority on the game. They made it almost impossible for Spurs to find any sort of rhythm or consistency as they used their pace down both wings to threaten the defence.
It paid off after 15 minutes, as Donny van de Beek broke the deadlock for Ajax with a goal that almost had VAR called into action, as he was flirting with the offside line. Ziyech slipped the ball through to van de Beek who had Lloris on edge with several dummies before slotting it into the bottom left corner.
After the goal, Spurs were unable to gain any sort of foothold in their own game, resorting to shaky defensive tactics to keep Ajax at bay. Both teams had time to reset after Jan Vertonghen clashed heads with Toby Alderweireld. The number '5' came off worse with a bloodied nose, but seemed to be able to continue.
A few minutes later and the Spurs defender took a turn for the worst, almost collapsing as he attempted to make his way down the tunnel after indicating that he would not be able to continue.
Sissoko, who had been nursing a groin injury, replaced him and Spurs were able to kick into gear with Lucas Moura their star man. He caused all sorts of problems on both flanks but his teammates let him down in support as Ajax were able to disarm him with ease.
Half-time approached and came just at the wrong time for a Spurs team who were just starting to find their feet. Ajax would welcome the chance to reset.
Both sides used the break to fire themselves up as they both came flying out the blocks after half-time. Llorente first, in the box for Spurs straight after the restart while Ajax responded with Tagliafico whose shot was just inches wide and had Lloris scrambling.
The following five minutes treated us to end-to-end action as Ajax responded to Spurs' every attempt on goal, with an attempt of their own.
The remainder of the first half was contested on fairly level peggings with each side claiming a few largely unthreatening chances on goal. Lucas Moura, who was arguably Spurs' best player on the night, became quiet and Fernando Llorente certainly failed to rise to the occasion.
Ajax were slightly more promising and could have very nearly stolen a second as Hugo Lloris was rooted to the spot and could only watch as David Neres' effort dribbled past him to hit the post. Had that gone in, Spurs' 2019 UCL campaign would have been well a truly buried.
The scoreline remained at 0-1, however, and Ajax used the clock to their advantage to take all the time in the world in possession, whilst still maintaining a solid performance in defence to disallow Spurs entry into box.
Tottenham really missed a forward target up front in the form of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min and leave themselves with it all to do on the road in Amsterdam.
Ajax will be confident that they can repeat tonight's performance, with the home advantage next week and we could be looking at yet another English team's departure from this year's Champions League.