Wake-up call for Martino

Lionel Messi may have been missing from the Barcelona line-up that succumbed to an ebullient young Ajax side in Amsterdam last night, but a front three of Neymar, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro Rodriguez must have fancied their chances against a side not even currently top of their domestic League.

Sure enough, there was some fluent passing and possession football on display right from the kick-off last night but it was played by the home side, who outshone their more illustrious rivals during the opening exchanges. Barcelona lacked the rhythm and fluency generated when Messi is pulling the strings and their approach was at times laboured.

Barca eventually began to impose themselves on the game, but the young Dutch side got an early goal that was fully deserved, even if it could be attributed to poor defending from the Catalans. Martino’s backline appeared makeshift on paper and proved so in practice with Carles Puyol playing at right-back and Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano looking rocky at times.

Thulani Serero took his goal well, but Pique and Puyol left the young South African plenty of space to drive a low shot past Jose Manuel Pinto, making his first Champions League appearance of the season. Barca were similarly culpable for the second Ajax goal when Mascherano gave the ball away cheaply and Pinto spilled Viktor Fischer’s effort, only for Danny Hoesen to follow up and score.

Barca have overcome adversity on countless past occasions, ruthlessly punishing errors, their sheer class and ability sufficient to turn the tables. Ajax even gave them a helping hand, but, although Joel Veltman’s marginal expulsion allowed Xavi Hernandez put away the resulting spot-kick, there was no sense that an equaliser, let alone a Barca winner, was around the corner. Barcelona failed either to test goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen or to make their numerical advantage count.

Barca’s qualification for the Last 16 is assured, but their position as group winners is not. Did they under-estimate Ajax after beating them so easily at Camp Nou? Did Martino place too much responsibility upon a weakened side? The Coach deployed three from a youthful bench yet omitted to either start with Alexis Sanchez or even to introduce the in-form Chilean when it was clear that tactical changes were required rather than just the replacement of tired legs.

Martino will continue to see his players routinely undo inferior sides in La Liga without playing particularly well, even with a depleted squad, as last weekend’s 4-0 win over Granada demonstrated. Questions remain, however, about the ability of his men to go the distance in a competition where the opposition will become increasingly testing, particularly if they fail to top the group.

Barca are not playing like the team they once were – that is a message that will bring increasing assurance to their opponents.

La Liga - Club News