Cristiano Ronaldo marked his return from injury with a precious away goal as Juventus drew 1-1 with an excellent Ajax in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

Ronaldo subdued the 50,000 home fans in the Johan Cruyff Arena when he headed Juventus in front on the stroke of half-time to take his record goal tally in the competition to 125.

Brazilian winger David Neres conjured a stunning equaliser almost immediately after half-time to give Ajax a draw that was the very least they deserved.

However, it is Juventus, for whom substitute Douglas Costa struck a post late on -- who hold the upper hand heading into next Tuesday's return in Turin, with the winners of this tie facing Manchester City or Tottenham Hotspur in the last four.

Juventus only displayed their attacking threat in patches, with Federico Bernardeschi lively and Ronaldo hooking one chance wide.

The latter had been kept largely quiet, but he was afforded too much time and space by the Ajax defence as he opened the scoring with the last act of the first half.

Ronaldo collected a pass from the elegant Rodrigo Bentancur, spread the play to Joao Cancelo and then ran unhindered in a straight line into the box to head home his compatriot's perfectly flighted cross.

Andre Onana got a touch, but could not deny Ronaldo his 25th of the season -- he has now scored six Champions League goals at the Johan Cruyff Arena, as many as ex-Ajax star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Ajax fans greeted their team's return for the second half with a rendition of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds, and they were still belting out the words to their adopted hymn when they equalised within a minute of the restart.

Neres robbed Cancelo by the left touchline just inside the Juventus half and advanced before curling a shot beyond Szczesny and into the far corner.

However, despite exerted pressure after that, Ajax could not get a winner, and Costa nearly delivered a late sucker punch when he struck the woodwork.