When Ajax beat Borussia Dortmund home and away during the group stages of the 2021-22 Champions League, it was not only significant in terms of the European fates of two of the continent's biggest clubs.

It was a battle between two sides whose reputations of late have been built on their ability to develop young players, and whom some would consider as being the teams that have the best conditions and in-built pathways for elite talents to make their way into first-team football anywhere in world football.

That Ajax came out on top on both occasions was, then, a feather in the cap for the Dutch outfit, while those victories also allowed them to get a slither of revenge over a club whom they feel they lost out to over the negotiating table earlier in the year as regards to one of Europe's top teenage strikers.