Lionel Messi Saves Barcelona Against Ajax, but Luis Suarez Looks Lost Right Now

AMSTERDAM — Barcelona’s forward line against Ajax featured the good, the bad and the ugly, and that’s not a comment on the respective looks of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Messi was the standout performer not just of that trio but also of anyone the pitch. The Argentine scored twice and while not at his very best caused the Ajax defence a great number of headaches.

It was Messi who was chopped down by Joel Veltman while in full flight, a foul which caused the Ajax centre-back to be dismissed for his second booking. Messi had beaten the same player, a man significantly larger than him, in the air to score the first goal after Marc Bartra had scooped it back into the box with goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen stranded.

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He started the move for Barcelona’s second too, feeding substitute Pedro Rodriguez and then darting into the box to slide home the return pass.

This isn't Messi at his absolute peak, but he’s still better than every other player out there bar Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese’s failure to net one of his chances against Liverpool on Tuesday night gave Messi the chance to go ahead of him in the race to beat Raul’s all-time Champions League goalscoring record.

Messi’s two goals take him to 71, level with Raul and one ahead of Real Madrid star Ronaldo. He has the chance to break the record before Ronaldo plays again in the competition, with Barcelona traveling to Cyprus to face Apoel Nicosia on November 25, the day before Ronaldo’s side plays again.

Neymar’s game was mediocre, with a couple of bright sparks mitigated by the way he gave the ball away on several occasions by trying to do too much. He linked well with Messi though, with those two and Jordi Alba connecting early on, but the Brazilian was offside when he converted a low cross.

Suarez looks lost at the moment, though. He struggled to get into the game and link with his partners in the forward line. At the moment, he doesn't look fully fit.

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That’s completely acceptable, of course, given that he was banned from training for much of the summer for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, and his season only kicked off a couple of weeks ago, after the ban had run its course.

What was not acceptable was his criminal waste of the game’s best opportunity. On one of the rare occasions that Messi and Suarez linked up, the former sent the latter clean through on goal. Suarez ran onto the ball but didn't plough towards the target with the same snake-like reflexes as usual—which is perhaps down to the fitness issue.

Regardless, he reached the edge of the box with only the keeper to beat and Neymar in support to his left.

Suarez hesitated and then hit a tame left-footed shot at Cillessen. Neymar raged to his left, and Enrique despaired on the sidelines. It was a huge chance for Barcelona to seal the game and for Suarez to score his first goal for his new side.

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While if he had passed it, Barcelona would have virtually been guaranteed a goal, it is understandable that he wanted to score back at his old hunting ground.

Suarez had been afforded a hero’s welcome when his name was read out before the game. After his miss, Ajax fans would have left the stadium cherishing the forward even more had they managed to get anything out of the match.

Had Arkadiusz Milik found the net with a diving header instead of the frame of the goal, that could have been the case.

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Suarez will come good at Barcelona; he is too impressive a footballer not to. But Enrique needs to find the best way to use him.

For much of the second half Suarez played centrally, although so did Messi; the right-hand flank was left unattended. It seemed to work against Ajax but isn't a sustainable tactic, particularly with Dani Alves' propensity to defend poorly.

Suarez has often stated he is happy to play in a wider position, but Barcelona surely haven't paid €81 million to use one of the best strikers in world football as a winger. 

Food for thought for Luis Enrique.