Barcelona 3-1 Ajax: Neymar and Messi lead the way

Posted by: neydmin Posted date: October 21, 2014 In: Neymar news | comment : 0

Full-time: Barcelona 3-1 Ajax
Goals: Neymar (7′), Messi (24′), Sandro (94′)
Match date: October 21, 2014
Stadium: Camp Nou
Competition: UEFA Champions League
Barcelona line-up: Bravo, Jordi Alba, Piqué, Bartra, Daniel Alves, Mascherano, Rakitic, Iniesta, Pedro, Neymar, Lionel Messi.

Barcelona have beaten Ajax 3-1 this Tuesday night at the Camp Nou, in the UEFA Champions League third fixture of the current season. The Blaugrana bounced back from their 3-2 loss against PSG a few weeks ago and secured the 2nd place in Group F, now that we’re halfway in the group stages.

As we’re getting used to see this season, the Dutch lock was open by a goal scored from Neymar and another assist provided by Lionel Messi. The two players are showing a great understanding on the pitch and with a Clasico right around the corner, that can only be a reason for Barcelona fans to be excited about the match. It took them roughly 7 minutes to break the deadlock against Ajax, when a Messi incursion in the middle corridor opened a gap on the lef, allowing Neymar to be the target of the Argentinian pass and then finish it off by curling the ball into the far post.

The hosts were dominating the game at their own will and would reach the second goal in the 24th minute of the first half. Ajax lost the possession in their first stage of construction and when Andrés Iniesta recovered it, he didn’t lose time and immediately looked for a teammate upfront. He would found Messi making a run between a couple Dutch defenders, delivered him a great pass and then the outcome was quite easy to guess. Messi scored his 69th career goal in the UEFA Champions League, tying Ronaldo as the 2nd top scorer of all-time in the competition. Real Madrid‘s legend, Raúl González, still leads the charts with 71 goals in 142 appearances in the Champions League, but his record is obviously not going to stand for much longer…

Ajax would still manage to cut distance near the end of the game, at a time when both Messi and Neymar had already been substituted, with Luis Enrique thinking about the Real Madrid vs Barcelona “Clasico” coming up next Saturday. It ended up being a Morrocan descent player called El Ghazi who had the honor to score a goal at the Camp Nou in the 88th minute, but Barça would reinstate the 2-goal lead shortly after, through a nice left-footed finish from Sandro Ramírez. Barça secured the 3 points and are now in the 2nd place in Group F, just one point behind the group leaders, PSG.