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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.
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Squad talkOne 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 someFew 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 continuesDani 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.
Neymar had a brilliant debut
Tactics talk
Much had been made of Gerard Pique’s controversial tiki-taka comment over the past week. However, a close look at Barca’s game today shows his logic. Martino has clearly prompted a slightly less pass-dependent style, giving it a trifle more wooden look than what Blaugranas may be used to in recent years. However, it has paid its dividends. Busquets has been given more freedom to move ahead, upfront, and the defence has, at least today, worn a comfortingly settled look. The only blips being Mascherano’s rugged tackling and an occasional slight lack of cohesion between the three forwards when one of the centre midfielders (mostly Iniesta) fails to move ahead as quickly.
Heroes and zeroes:
FC Barcelona:
Heroes
1 Lionel Messi: The Flea was at it again, with a great hat-trick, a wonderful free kick and a nice partnership with Neymar. The duo should be kept an eye on if they maintain this form together.
2 Neymar: Great CL debut. Constant force on the left flank, and can justify his talent and price with regular performances of this sort.
3. Victor Valdes: A few late saves saw him robbing Andres Iniesta of the honour. They say that well begun is half done, and Valdes will be confident after such performances for the later stages.
Zeroes 1. Alexis Sanchez: Seemed all at sea against Blind, and failed to link up with Messi and Neymar well enough. Improved somewhat after the break, but not enough.
2. Javier Mascherano: Did well to mitigate Bojan early on, but his style of doing that would have ruffled a few referees. The penalty-conceding tackle on Thulani Serero was also avoidable. Needs to tone down aggression to be of greater utility.
AFC Ajax
Heroes:
1. Daley Blind: The left-back was in complete command against Alexis Sanchez, and one of the few Ajax men to truly have a great night. Hope his form rubs on to his other teammates.
2. Christian Poulsen: Tried hard to get moves going throughout, but lacked adequate support. His shot at Victor Valdes towards the end was a true expression of his angst, and he was denied only a thoroughly deserved goal.
Zeroes:
1. Bojan: Kept making attacking runs even as he posed lesser threat to Dani and Mascherano than with his passing. Ajax could have benefited if he could have focused on playmaking post the first twenty minutes.
2. Ricardo Van Rhijn: Frequently went out of position, allowing Neymar to run riot on the left flank. Made a couple of notable forward runs, but they proved useless with his defence and midfield largely struggling.
