This was a very special night for Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana. The Cameroon international goalkeeper made his first competitive appearance after 297 days of forced absence, starting Ajax’s Champions League tie at Besiktas in Istanbul.Onana conceded the first goal of the game when Rachid Ghezzal converted a first-half penalty. But there wasn’t much riding on this particular match anyway. Ajax have already secured the top spot in their group with two games to spare. Onana would probably have considered the night a resounding success even if the Amsterdammers had lost. But Sebastien Haller came off the bench and scored two goals to turn the game around.13.4 – Based on Opta’s expected goals on target data (xGoT), André Onana prevented more goals in the Champions League since 2018-19 than any other goalkeeper. Resurgence. pic.twitter.com/8NBeOdWwUo— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) November 24, 2021 Onana’s initial 12-month doping ban, imposed in February of this year, was reduced to nine upon appeal, and he returned to Ajax first-team training at the end of last month. The 25-year-old pleaded that he’s accidentally taken a drug prescribed to his wife when he’d woken up one morning a year ago. The drug he’d taken is not known to be performance-enhancing itself but can be used to mask the use of other kinds of doping, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency. And Onana was punished after failing a later drug test.Ajax’s director of football Marc Overmars said a few months ago that Onana’s Ajax career was finished, but it all changed after the expiration of the goalie’s ban coincided with a season-ending injury to veteran goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.Daniel Craig earned millions as 007, but still less than LavezziOnana is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world – and one that also could improve significantly in the coming years. It’s no wonder a number of clubs were credited with an interest in signing the Cameroonian. Arsenal, Inter, Milan, Barcelona, Lyon and a few others have been mentioned as Onana’s potential destinations.Unless there is a big turnaround, Onana will be a free agent next July and any interested party will be allowed to offer him terms at the start of January.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEGroup stageTuesdayDynamo Kyiv – Bayern 1-2 (0-2)/Garmash 70 – Lewandowski 14, Coman 42/Villareal – Man.Utd. 0-2 (0-0)/Ronaldo 78, Sancho 90/Barcelona- Benfica 0-0Young Boys – Atalanta 3-3 (1-1)/Siebatcheu 39, Sierro 80, Hefti 84 – Zapata 10, Palomino 51, Muriel 87/Lille – Salzburg 1-0 (1-0)/David 31/Sevilla – Wolfsburg 2-0 (1-0)/Jordan 12, Mir 90+7/Chelsea – Juventus 4-0 (1-0)/Chalobah 25, James 55, Hudson-Odoi 58, Warner 90+5/Malmo – Zenit 1-1 (1-0)/Rieks 28 – Rakitskiy 90+2/WednesdayBesiktas – Ajax 1-2 (1-0)/Ghezzal 22 pen – Haller 54, 69/Inter – Shakhtar 2-0 (0-0)/Dzeko 62, 67/23.00: (3.80) Club Brugge (3.60) RB Leipzig (2.05)23.00: (1.70) Man.City (4.40) PSG (4.75)23.00: (1.65) Atl.Madrid (3.80) Milan (6.25)23.00: (1.80) Liverpool (3.70) Porto (5.00)23.00: (2.65) Sporting (3.35) Dortmund (2.85)23.00: (11.0) Sheriff Tiraspol (6.50) Real Madrid (1.28)***odds are subject to change
