Totally Gold Champions League 94/95: Van Gaal's Ajax go all the way

The Totally Football Show with James Richardson

The Athletic

Soccer, Unknown, Soccer,, Sports, Football

4.6 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Back in the summer of 2020, Jimbo and co passed the time reviewing classic Premier League and Champions League campaigns.

Here from the vault, we bring you the thoughts of James Horncastle, Raphael Honigstein and Julien Laurens on the 1994/95 Champions League season, when invincible Ajax shocked the world.

In perhaps the peak of Louis van Gaal's long managerial career, this young crop of mostly homegrown talent went unbeaten in the Eredivisie and the Champions League to take home the top prize. Time to give Jari Litmanen some much overdue love.

Elsewhere, it was a campaign of Weah's PSG reaching the semi-finals, Die Hard henchmen and Gary Walsh being embarrassed by Barcelona.

Produced by Charlie Jones.

RUNNING ORDER:

• PART 1a: IFK Gothenburg catch the eye (02.00)

• PART 1b: Man United embarrassed by Barcelona (04.00)

• PART 1c: PSG reach the semi-finals (06.00)

• PART 2a: Van Gaal’s iconic Ajax team (11.00)

• PART 2b: Ajax overcome Bayern in the semis (19.00)

• PART 2c: Impenetrable Milan await in the final (21.00)

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Transcript

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