Ligue 1 giants Olympique Marseille have handed four-time winners Ajax their record loss after a 4-0 win in the French port city.
Ajax manager John Heitinga, who announced in a pre-match interview that he wanted to play courageous and audacious football, started Oscar Gloukh as a false nine in the absence of strikers Kasper Dolberg and Wout Weghorst, who are dealing with injuries.
Olympique Marseille boss Roberto de Zerbi started former Feyenoord star Igor Paixao against Ajax, as well as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had scored six goals in three prior meetings with Ajax.
Heitinga and Ajax opened their game with tight man marking, which De Zerbi quickly exploited. A long pass from centre-half Nayef Aguerd was extended by Aubameyang, who immediately put Paixao in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Viteszlav Jaros, who was nailed to the ground as the Brazilian opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
Paixao soon made it much worse for Ajax, who went down two goals after twelve minutes as the Brazilian winger hit home from outside the box.
Marseille added a third before the half-hour mark via Mason Greenwood, who exposed Ajax's poor defensive setup and easily beat Jaros after Aubameyang sent the Englishman into acres of space.
Ajax's only attempt came after 45 minutes, via Steven Berghuis, who fired a hopeless shot from 35 metres and saw his effort blocked immediately.
Any hopes for a famous comeback were blown to pieces by Aubameyang within the first ten minutes of the second half - after a free-kick all the way at Marseille's box, the Gabonese striker found himself in front of Jaros fewer than ten seconds later and slotted the ball home with ease.
The home side took the foot off the throttle following the 4-0, giving Ajax the space to create their first chances of the game. Efforts from Oliver Edvardsen, Kenneth Taylor, and Mika Godts all couldn't put Ajax on the scoreboard, however.
Record European loss for Ajax
Olympique Marseille were well on their way to handing Ajax a record away loss in the UEFA Champions League, which stood at 4-0, having previously suffered losses against FC Barcelona in 2013 and Bayern Munich in 2004.
The home side showed mercy in the final stages of the game, which ended in a 4-0 thumping of the Amsterdam giants in Marseille. Manager Johnny Heitinga will be left to fear for his job after another disappointing performance, which Ajax will have to make up for in an away game at Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday.
Ajax continue their Champions League campaign in London, where Chelsea will be the opponent on October 22nd. Olympique Marseille book their third win in a row and will visit Sporting Portugal next.
View all the statistics from Olympique Marseille-Ajax on Flashscore.
