The Amsterdam giants lost their fourth consecutive UEFA Champions League game to start their European campaign in historically bad fashion - no Dutch club have ever lost their first four Champions League games with a worse goal difference than Ajax (-12).
Nevertheless, manager John Heitinga spoke of a 'good' first 60 minutes against Galatasaray.
"You definitely feel that when you leave the pitch with a 0-3 score, you feel that it's a bit flattering," Heitinga told Ziggo Sport following the game.
"I think you play well for about sixty minutes. You play with discipline, and you make a few good saves. You don't give away much. You're comfortable in your position, and I think you play well at times."
Victor Osimhen opened the scoring for Galatasaray in the 59th minute, with the Turkish giants' eighth attempt of the game. By the time the 61st minute rolled around, Galatasaray had an xG of 0.82, while Ajax managed to generate a measly 0.18xG in the opening 60 minutes.
Ajax only truly felt like a threat to Galatasaray's dominance in the final 15 minutes of the first half, after Jorthy Mokio logged Ajax's first shot in the 33rd minute. Along with the Belgian's effort, only Oscar Gloukh took a shot in the first half.
"I think we broke free in the second half of the first half. A few times, you played well underneath. I really have to compliment the team for having the courage and guts to play football from the back. Then they made some good choices. It resulted in a few small chances, but in the end, you're left with a bitter taste in your mouth."
'Hold on to good moments'
After four UEFA Champions League games, Ajax rank 34th in shots (30), last in shots on target (7), 35th in touches in the opposition's box (55), third-to-last in passes into the final third (159), second-to-last in fast breaks (2), and last in goals scored, with Wout Weghorst scoring Ajax's only Champions League goal from a penalty at Stamford Bridge in his side's 5-1 loss to Chelsea.
There's no reason for Heitinga to panic, however.
"I think you can see, especially in the first sixty minutes and the second part of the first half, that the lads can play good football. You want to see that all the time. What I'm saying is: it really has to go the other way now," Heitinga continued in his post-game interview.
"In any case, you have to hold on to the good things. You saw that the game was a lot more positive today. We have to stick to our game. We have to continue to develop that. It's a process that we're all in together. It's tough at the moment, but we have to shift our focus to next Sunday quickly."
Check out all the match and player statistics of Ajax-Galatasaray on Flashscore