Echo of Johan Cruyff as £75m man Frenkie de Jong lights the way for Ajax

More than three decades on they still talk about the time when Johan Cruyff came to White Hart Lane and was outclassed by Glenn Hoddle.

Cruyff was in the twilight of his career and playing for Feyenoord but the occasion left an impression.

This one did, too, as Ajax continued to flourish in the Champions League with youngsters tipped for greatness, high on the confidence of beating Real Madrid and Juventus.

Many of them are at the start of highly promising careers. It was a very different test for a Tottenham team feeling the strain in more ways than one.

Reach for the moon, said Mauricio Pochettino on the eve of the semi-final but his players were gasping for air during a breathless opening by the visitors.

Davinson Sanchez seemed to have his head in a spin and Jan Vertonghen was certainly seeing stars after a collision with team-mate Toby Alderweireld in the first half.

For half an hour Spurs reeled and went behind but somehow they hung on.

This European campaign has been a test of character from the first fixture when they turned victory into defeat in the final few minutes at Inter Milan.

They were five minutes from an exit in Barcelona and nerves were shred at Manchester City.

On Tuesday night, they were challenged to find extra depths of resolve to stop Ajax and Frenkie de Jong from running away with this game and finishing this semi-final in the first leg.

De Jong has already inspired claims he has the talent to be as influential as Cruyff as he prepares to follow the same path from Amsterdam to Barcelona.

Spurs tried to sign him last year as they sought a successor to Mousa Dembele but could not compete with a £75million move to the Nou Camp.

Beyond De Jong's outrageous ability on the ball, it is his understanding, awareness and appreciation of the game around him which captured the eye as he emerged from the Ajax ranks.

There was evidence in the opening minutes when, with his right foot he nonchalantly eased a dropping ball over his shoulder on the volley to centre half Matthijs de Ligt.

Lying deep in midfield, he set the tempo as Ajax seized early control and dominated possession.

Tottenham, starting with a back-three formation in the absence of so many midfielders and strikers, quickly dropped deep and tried to dig in around the edges of their own penalty area. But they were vulnerable to Ajax's pace, mobility and high-pressing intensity.

De Jong may have wonderful poise and passing range but his task is easier thanks to the blur of movement which dragged Spurs out of formation and opened spaces for him and others to find.

No one managed to shackle Donny van de Beek in the first half and it was no surprise when he scored the opening goal.

It was no more than the Dutch side deserved. Spurs were hanging and found no relief by way of possession. They were unable to navigate a way out of their own defensive third and could not get their best players on the ball.

The opening phase simply bypassed Dele Alli, Tottenham's own midfield starlet, born little more than a year before De Jong.

Alli is approaching the end of his fourth season as a Spurs player and it has been a difficult one, after a successful World Cup with England and the disruption of injuries.

He has been playing in a lightweight cast to protect two broken bones in his left hand, suffered against Manchester City in the first leg of the quarter-final.

He has flickered at times but came into this game having scored only once since Christmas.

Deployed in a deeper midfield role, he was lost as an attacking threat and despite his wonderful engine was as helpless as so many others when it came to winning the ball. Pochettino stepped forward to help after 30 minutes, reverting to a back four, and the long break for Vertonghen's head injury knocked Ajax from their silky rhythm.

When Vertonghen was forced off before the interval, Spurs took the chance to send on Moussa Sissoko, who was not deemed fit enough to start after injury.

Sissoko supplied presence and, with it, more resistance in midfield and Alli was unleashed, immediately becoming more influential in a more advanced role, trying to play off the knockdowns from Fernando Llorente and link up with Lucas Moura.

Tottenham threatened from set-pieces though Llorente and Alderweireld missed the target when they might have done better, having won the ball in the air.

Finally they were in the contest and carried their momentum into the second half. Alli on the volley forced the first save of the night from Onana. Then he headed over from a cross by Kieran Trippier.

De Jong was finding it harder to orchestrate his team as Spurs played more direct to Llorente and the hosts proved again they are ready fight and find a solution, even when they are outclassed.