The ultimate bottle-job: Jordan Henderson and Ajax on the verge of an epic Eredivisie title collapse

All of Ajax's players were grinning from ear to ear after a hugely impressive 2-0 win over PSV on March 30 - and rightly so. Victory in Eindhoven had propelled them nine points clear of their second-placed rivals at the top of the Eredivisie standings with just seven rounds remaining.

That looked and felt like an unassailable lead, particularly for a team on a 12-game unbeaten run in the league. But vice-captain Davy Klaassen unsurprisingly called for calm in his post-match interview.

"The further you get into the season, the more important the games become and this was a very important one," the midfielder told Ajax's official website. "But we approach every game individually. I think it's one of our strengths. So, there was joy in the dressing room afterwards, but not too much. I would call it humble joy.

"It's not like we won a prize here. The prizes will be handed out at the end of the season."

However, while Klaasen refused to make any bold declarations regarding the title race, PSV's players had no issue stating that it was already over as far as they were concerned.

"We've now lost to Ajax twice this season," winger Noa Lang told ESPN. "The championship is done now. Apparently, we couldn't handle the pressure. Ajax were better than us but we just threw it away ourselves. That is the reality. We just have to finish second now; otherwise we will end up in the preliminary round of the Champions League."

Tellingly, not even PSV captain Luuk de Jong had any fight left in him. On the contrary, the veteran striker agreed with Lang's assessment that automatic qualification for the Champions League was all last season's Dutch title-winners had left to play for with Ajax in such fine form.

"Nine points is too much," De Jong sighed. "I don't think it's ever happened before that a team has been overtaken with such a lead and with so few games remaining."

There's always a first time for everything, though...

The feeling that the title was destined for Amsterdam only intensified after Ajax came from a goal down with just over 15 minutes to play to beat Willem II 2-1 on April 13 thanks to a quick-fire double from substitutes Oliver Edvardsen and Wout Weghorst.

"I wanted to change the dynamic," Farioli said of his decisive changes. "The statistics were unreal: in the first half, we had more than 30 touches in Willem II's penalty area but they defended really well, so it wasn't easy. The only thing is we lacked some aggression in the penalty area. But, in the second half, I did see that we were more determined to score and this is a very important result."

There was no disputing that claim as it left Ajax needing just seven points from their five remaining fixtures to clinch a 37th title. Farioli added: "We've five finals left to play." Incredibly, they've failed to win any of the first four.

Farioli felt that the stunning 4-0 loss at Utrecht on April 20 was an anomaly, arguing that the scoreline flattered the hosts and that Ajax had actually played "fairly well".

"Unfortunately, our good play wasn't rewarded," the Italian said. "The team was disappointed with the scale of the defeat - everything went against us. We need to accept that it happened and learn from it. Just like after any other match, we have to move on. Whether the result was good or bad, it's always about the next match and we're ready for Sparta at home."

They clearly weren't, though, as Ajax needed a 97th-minute equaliser from Youri Reeger to claim a 1-1 draw with Sparta Rotterdam the following weekend. "It's an important point," Weghorst insisted. "We kept going after conceding. We showed we have the mentality to come back."

Ajax's mentality, though, is the very thing that is now being questioned after Sunday's shocking 3-0 loss to NEC at the Johan Cruyff Arena was followed up on Wednesday by conceding a 99th-minute equaliser away to 10-man Groningen, meaning they have dropped 10 points in the space of just four games to not only throw away their lead atop the table, but fall behind PSV heading into Sunday's final round.

It's important to bear in mind that nobody was quite sure what to expect from Ajax before the season began. They'd gone through six different coaches since Erik ten Hag's departure for Manchester United in the summer of 2022 - and without winning a single trophy.

New boss Farioli also represented a risky appointment. The Italian was coming off the back of an impressive campaign with Nice, whom he had qualified for the Europa League via a fifth-placed finish in Ligue 1, but he was only 35 at the time of his arrival in Amsterdam and, prior to his solitary season in France, his only previous experience as a head coach had been in Turkey.

Farioli, though, made an instant impact on a side that had finished fifth in 2023-24 - and suffered some devastating defeats, most notably at home and away to Feyenoord (10-0 on aggregate!).

"It was a tough few months until the end of the season," club captain Jordan Henderson, who joined from Al-Ettifaq in January of last year, told the club's media channel. "A lot of things were up and down, a lot of inconsistency.

"But the new manager came in and that was a massive help for everyone. It gave us both a bit of structure and some freedom. He could see what we needed as a group and I think the group took everything on board and were willing to give everything for each other... Regardless of what happens in the end, I think it's been a pretty good season and better than what most people would have thought at the start."

How it will be remembered, though, will hinge on the final two rounds.

PSV now have a one-point advantage heading into their final game of the season away at an admittedly improving Sparta Rotterdam, meaning that even if Ajax can pull themselves together and record a victory over fifth-placed Twente - who boast the league's top scorer in Sem Steijn - they may still have to make do with a runners-up finish.

A relatively inexperienced and increasingly anxious Ajax are playing have been playing as if having the weight of the world on their shoulders, while reigning champions PSV are buzzing after extending their running streak to six games with a 4-1 win over Heracles on Wednesday that followed hot on the heels of a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Feyenoord three days earlier.

That was a sensational comeback that piled pressure on Ajax ahead of their game against NEC later in the day, and they buckled under it. Indeed, Farioli didn't even bother trying to argue that the 3-0 scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game, admitting, "We can throw the statistics in the bin, because the result says enough."

The outcome of the title race will also very clearly determine how Ajax's campaign is seen. As Henderson has repeatedly pointed out, they did well to put themselves in a position to win the title after experiencing some seriously "dark days" last season. But, harsh as it may seem, blowing a nine-point lead with five games to go would undeniably see Farioli's Ajax added to one of the most ignominious lists in football.