Olaf Kraak/EPA, via Shutterstock
It was the rarest of feats in modern European soccer: Ajax Amsterdam, a proud club from the Dutch league, battling its way past giants like Real Madrid and Juventus to the cusp of a place in the Champions League final.
Ajax’s journey, which began in the summer qualifying rounds and was ended by an injury-time goal in the semifinals on Wednesday, was the kind of puncher’s chance that every small club dreams of in the Champions League. But it is unlikely to be repeated if concrete proposals for the future of European soccer drawn by the continent’s governing body and its richest clubs come to fruition.