THE HAGUE: It took Ajax 34 penalties to beat Panathinaikos 13-12 in a marathon shootout on Thursday, setting a UEFA competition record after their Europa League third qualifying round tie ended 1-1 over two legs and extra time.

Ajax, who won 1-0 at Panathinaikos last week, conceded in the 89th minute in Amsterdam, leading to the shootout that broke the previous record of 32 attempts at the European U-21 Championship semi-final in 2007 where Netherlands beat England 13-12.

“So many penalties and every time someone missed, the other team missed. This was crazy,” said Ajax coach Francesco Farioli. “But it was also a great evening. We are now definitely playing in Europe.”

The world record for the longest shootout was set in May when Israeli third-tier clubs SC Dimona and Shimshon Tel Aviv took 56 penalties to resolve their semi-final promotion playoff tie.

Ajax keeper Remko Pasveer made five saves and sco­r­ed on his own attempt to help the hosts win the shootout as Dutch international Brian Brobbey missed two penalties.

“Five is quite a lot, yes. I save a penalty every now and then, but I don’t think you often experience something as crazy as this,” Pasveer said.

“Every time I thought we would do it. Brobbey behind the ball, we will do it. But he missed, while he always scores during training.”

Defender Anton Gaaei ultimately delivered the winning penalty for Ajax. The Eredivisie club will now face Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok in the playoff round later this month.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Chelsea will face Switzerland’s Servette in the Europa Conference League playoffs four days after their Premier League opener as the Swiss side failed to advance past Braga in their Europa League third qualifying round return leg.

The tie was goalless following the first leg in Portugal before Braga beat Servette 2-1 at the Stade de Geneve to qualify for the main stage of the competition.

In some of the other playoff ties, Serie A’s Fiorentina will face Hungary’s Puskas Akademia and Spanish side Real Betis will play Ukraine’s Kryvbas.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2024