Barca v Ajax - Match Review
Messi celebrates his hattrick
In a perfect start to their Champions League campaign, Barcelona trounced AFC Ajax 4-0 in an eagerly awaited clash between two sides who’d similar roots, and the same father figure in Johann Cruyff. He may have disagreements with Sandro Rosell as of now, but it would be hard to deny that even Cruyff would have smiled at the final whistle.
Here’s a lowdown, for all who missed it or chose to skip it to watch the mouth-watering Group G fixtures.
Squad talk
One look at the team sheet quickly revealed that the game was going to be pretty interesting. Even as speculation surrounded Jordi Alba and Carles Puyol, ‘Tata’ Martino opted for Adriano at left-back, with the old pair of Pique and Mascherano in the centre, while opting for Iniesta, Busquets and Cesc in the midfield, with Neymar on the left flank.
Ajax, on the other hand, opted for a more predictable side, with Siem de Jong and Christian Poulsen making up a midfield sorely missing Tottenham export Eriksen. Bojan Krkic and Danny Blind, on left wing and left-back respectively, were two more interesting names to watch out for.
First twenty minutes: A promising debut, and then some
Few twenty-one year olds make their Champions League debuts as starters, forget having the world’s expectations on their shoulders. However, if Neymar was daunted, he surely did not show it. An integral part of Barcelona’s dominance in the first twenty minutes would be surely attributed to this little Brazilian, who regularly had Ajax man Ricardo Van Rhijn on his knees. The fact that Iniesta and Fabregas often picked him out on the left was a clear sign of how well he was handling the job. Meanwhile, Alexis was having a rough day as he posed hardly any problem to Daley Blind.
Ajax tried to hold on to the ball as long as possible whenever they would finally get it, but they failed to pose a serious problem during the first twenty minutes. Then, Sergio Busquets kick-started the first key move.
21’ Messi, cutting in from the right, spots Busquets favourably positioned in the center. The Spaniard makes a first time back heel to complete the one-two, and Messi is tripped. The free kick is given. The shot pinballs in off the left post. Barcelona 1-0 Ajax
Till half-time: Operation Resurgence
Being a goal down brought out a new energy of the Dutch outfit. Led by Bojan’s regular dashes on the left-wing (which posed no trouble to Mascherano), Ajax tried to make inroads to little avail, save one moment when Bojan spotted Van Rhijn’s run down the right and crossed, the resultant header evoking an excellent save from Valdes. Maybe that was what Bojan should have focused on. No other incidents of note took place, as Alexis’ troubles continued and Neymar made a mess of one difficult chance anyway.
Half-time: Barcelona 1-0 Ajax
SECOND HALF
45-65: Messi makes it two, the Catalan party continues
Dani Alves started the proceedings on a perfect note, with his cross from the right just evading Alexis. However, the real deal was to come seven minutes later.
55’ Busquets, coming in again from the centre, through balls to Messi on the right flank who dodges two defenders on the cut in to score. Barcelona 2-0 Ajax
Neymar balloons a cross to Messi a minute later, whose first-time shot just went wide, even as Alexis seemed more at ease now on the right flank. Ajax, meanwhile is easily kept under the pump whenever attempting an offensive.
65-90: Sewing it up
The two goal cushion had easily given Barcelona the leeway to move forward freely, as Neymar found out in the 69th minute.
Sending in a routine cross from the left, Neymar found Pique heading it in flawlessly. Barcelona 3-0 Ajax
A double substitution three minutes later saw Xavi and Pedro enter for Neymar and Cesc, as Xavi got into the act right away. Finding Messi in the centre, who made a run and then stopped, only to complete his hat-trick with a grounded shot. 74’ Barcelona 4-0 Ajax
Javier Mascherano had long been criticized for his tackling. He was at it again two minutes later, tripping substitute Thulani Serero in the box, only for Victor Valdes to save the penalty. The closing stages saw spirited attacks led by Bojan and Poulsen notably, with the reportedly outgoing Barca custodian making fine saves, keeping his slate clean at the final whistle.