Messi hits hat-trick in Barcelona win over Ajax; Mourinho mulls Chelsea loss
lionel Messi scored a hat trick as Barcelona opened their Champions league campaign with a dominant 4-0 win over Ajax on Wednesday.
It was a different story for Jose Mourinho, though, as Chelsea made a losing start for the first time as Basel came from behind to win 2-1 in london and add to the difficulties of the “Special One” during his Stamford Bridge homecoming.
last season’s runner-up Borussia Dortmund also had a bad night, losing 2-1 at Napoli with both coach Juergen Klopp and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller being sent off.
Seven-time champion AC Milan struggled, too, before two late goals gave the injury-hit Rossoneri a 2-0 victory at home to Celtic.
Meanwhile, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey scored as Arsenal opened its 16th straight campaign in the top European competition with a 2-1 win at Marseille to join Napoli atop Group F.
Elsewhere, it was: Atletico Madrid 3, Zenit St. Petersburg 1; Schalke 3, Steaua Bucharest 0; and Austria Vienna 0, Porto 1.
At Camp Nou, Messis opened the scoring at Camp Nou Stadium with a free kick in the 22nd minute, doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 55th on the break and, after Gerard Pique’s 69th-minute goal, added another 15 minutes from fulltime. The goals took his cumulative tally in the competition to 62 - nine short of Raul Gonzalez’s all-time record of 71 goals in 144 appearances.
Messi now stands alone as the only player to have scored a hat trick four times in the tournament.
“From (Frank) Rijkaard until now, the coaches that have come through here, every two or three games they have talked about how surprised they are by him, and I am just one more,” said Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino, who will travel to his native Argentina following the death of his father on Tuesday.
Despite some lethargic moments late in the first half, Barcelona eased to the win thanks to Messi’s goals and the team’s near complete control of possession.
When Ajax did manage to create a scoring opportunity, Valdes was there to keep a clean sheet.
“As the game went on we adapted better as we figured out what to do,” said Messi. “We couldn’t put pressure on them at the beginning because they read the match perfectly.”
True to both teams’ well-established playing styles, Barcelona and Ajax kept the ball on the turf. While Ajax was limited to former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic’s sprints down the left side, Barcelona soon focused on Neymar cutting in from the left flank.
But it fell to Messi to get the hosts going after he was fouled while dribbling across the edge of the area following a neat passing combination with Dani Alves.
From that prime spot, Messi sent a left-foot shot off the left post, with the ball beating outstretched goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer before ricocheting into the far side of the net.
“We know that Messi can always score, and he did,” said Ajax coach Frank de Boer, a formerBarcelona defender.
“His free kick was very good, very fast.
“I can’t be happy. When you allow four goals you can’t be. But I saw moments that we can build on for the games ahead.”
Ricardo van Rhijn almost answered for Ajax in the 31st when Bojan picked him out with a cross, only for Valdes to smother his header.
The home crowd became nervous near the end of the first half, and Barcelona apparently took note by showing the defensive pressure Martino had said was his top priority to restore after the break.
Neymar, in his European debut, set up Gerard Pique to add Barcelona’s third goal with a long cross. Ajax lost possession near its area and Xavi Hernandez laid the ball off for Messi to take his time before driving it between a pair of defenders and into the corner of the net for his third goal.
Valdes had his moment of glory one minute later in the 76th when he blocked Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s penalty after Javier Mascherano fouled Thulani Serero in the box. “We played a better second half,” said Martino.
We were more comfortable than in the first and took control of the game. It was a good performance, not as brilliant as the 4-0 looks, but we won it fairly.
“Barcelona is full of individual talents. Today we can talk about Messi and Valdes, another day Xavi or Neymar. It is normal that one of them rises to the occasion.”
Ajax’s defeat was its ninth consecutive loss to a Spanish opponent. Ajax’s last victory in Spain dates back even farther to the 1996-97 season when De Boer helped the Dutch team win at Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona and Milan top Group H, although the Rossoneri didn’t take the lead until eight minutes from time with an own goal before Sulley Muntari sealed the result two minutes later.
In london, boos rang out at the final whistle after Marco Streller clinched Basel’s first-ever win in England in the 82nd minute by flicking a header past goalkeeper Petr Cech after seizing on slack defending. “I am responsible for everything,” Mourinho said.
“Especially after a bad result. In the good moments I want everyone to shine, in the bad moments I want everyone to keep calm.”
Although Oscar lit up a drab start by putting Chelsea in front before halftime, Mohamed Salah began the Swiss side’s comeback in the 71st by bending in an equalizer before Streller ensured that Chelsea’s worst start to a season in the decade under Roman Abramovich’s ownership was prolonged.
Basel and Schalke share the Group E lead.
In Italy, prized signing Gonzalo Higuain put Napoli ahead 29 minutes in on a rainy night at San Paolo stadium by heading home a cross from Camilo Zuniga, after which Klopp was sent off for protesting.
Higuain was also at the center of the action when Weidenfeller was shown a red card for using his hands outside his area to deny the striker in first-half added time.
Napoli and Arsenal meet next in Group F.