FC Barcelona vs. Ajax: What We Learned About Luis Suarez and Barca's Future

Amsterdam Arena was thundering with the unified chants of Ajax fans, as their team took the field opposite a reeling FC Barcelona side in Champions League group play. The Catalans were fresh off back-to-back La Liga defeats to Real Madrid (3-1) and Celta Vigo (1-0) and hoping to turn around an uncharacteristically poor run of form.

Surprisingly, the incredible starting trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez was still searching for its first win in all competitions. Perhaps even more surprisingly, out of those three highly prolific scorers, only Neymar has been able to find the back of the net in the last two matches (his one goal came against Real Madrid).

Messi had the added pressure of chasing Raul’s all-time Champions League scoring record, as he began the night just two goals short of equaling the Spanish striker’s tally. Suarez, meanwhile, was looking to open his account for the senior team against the club that helped him rise to international notoriety.

Messi did not travel across the continent on a Wednesday night to be shut out, however. By the end of the match, he would stand beside Raul as the leading goal scorer in Europe’s top club competition.

Center-back Marc Bartra—who had come up for Messi's set piece in the 36th minute—kept an attacking play alive after Jasper Cillessen punched the Argentine’s free-kick wide.

The ball eventually found its way back into the box, where Bartra managed to match the goalkeeper’s leap and loft the ball back in front of the now-open goalmouth. Messi rose above his defender at the penalty spot and headed home for the game’s opening goal.

Until that point, the home side actually had the majority of dangerous opportunities in front of the net. A solid save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen and a couple of timely recovering runs from Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba were the only things standing between Ajax and a coveted lead against last year’s quarterfinalists.

Ajax continued to fight until the bitter end, but Barcelona’s dizzying wealth of talent ultimately got the better of the plucky, young Dutch squad. Though the final result may be considered entirely predictable under the circumstances, the manner in which the Blaugrana achieved victory still begs many questions about the team’s evolution under Luis Enrique.

How Does Barcelona Stack Up this Season?

It’s reasonable to say that Ajax are an average opponent compared to the other teams Barcelona has played so far this season. In other words, Ajax are better than Granada, but nowhere near as skilled or experienced as Madrid or PSG.

As such, Ajax are a good litmus test to assess a Barca squad that has unquestionable talent but is clearly not firing on all cylinders like the wonder-teams of the Pep Guardiola era. This 2014 incarnation of Barcelona has so far been able to handle teams in the bottom half of the domestic league, but it has struggled mightily against true title challengers like Madrid.

Today’s victory against a quality—but not elite—Ajax side suggests that Barca is floating somewhere between “good” and “great” on the spectrum of European teams.

Based on their performance, what separates the Blaugrana from reclaiming that coveted spot at the pinnacle of Europe’s elite may only be a matter of shaking off a few cobwebs and integrating the world-class pieces they already have at their disposal.

One of the cobwebs that has clung to Barcelona ever since its 7-0 mauling at the hands of Bayern Munich in the 2013 Champions League semifinal is the team’s slow and aging midfield. The spellbinding trio of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta that lit up the continent for the Catalans—and lit up the world for the Spanish national team at the 2010 World Cup—is neither as young nor as spry as it once was. 

Xavi can still play dime balls from anywhere on the pitch, but his declining strength and agility means defenders can now close him down and dispossess him of the ball before he can release an attacking teammate.

Against weaker teams, Xavi may still have enough time to dwell on the ball and pick out a perfect pass. However, when Barcelona face more aggressive opponents, it should now be considered most prudent to start him on the bench. As illustrated in today’s match, there was little Xavi could do to stop Ajax’s young, pacey midfielders on fast breaks.

Iniesta still has the agility and pace that have deserted Xavi, but in Barca’s midfield three, a single player’s shortcomings can spell doom for the entire unit. This is surely why Enrique has seen fit to start Iniesta over Xavi on so many occasions this season.

His ability to dribble and shield the ball against more physically imposing opponents will be invaluable when going forward and retaining possession in the Barcelona style.

Though he did not feature today, Iniesta will be an asset for the next couple of years until Sergi Roberto and Rafinha step up as first-team regulars. Until he begins collecting cobwebs of his own, Iniesta will be able to help ease the transition into Barcelona’s future by filling Xavi’s senior role in midfield next to Busquets and Ivan Rakitic.

Busquets still has his prime years to look forward to, but his lumbering gait in the midfield has exposed him time and again (not unlike Xavi) during opponents’ fast breaks. Enrique has alleviated some of the pressure of giving Busquets the sole defensive role in midfield by allowing Mascherano to maraud forward from his traditional center-back position.

The former defensive midfielder from Argentina has proved himself adept at cutting out potentially dangerous passes in the midfield before they can develop into threats on goal.

While Busquets will continue to be the lynchpin of the Barca midfield, despite his limited speed, Enrique needs to ensure that he gets adequate support from his back line to prevent opponents from getting in behind the midfield with time and space to run at the defense.

The Bright Road Ahead

Barcelona has long played with the philosophy that the best defense is a good offense, and it looks as though the team has once again turned to this mantra to sweep away the cobwebs that were collecting in the midfield.

Rakitic, the club’s most prominent signing in the center of the park, is looking to become Xavi’s successor. While his impressive vision puts him well on his way to achieving that goal, it is his attacking prowess that may prove to be his most influential contribution for helping Barcelona move into the post-Xavi era.

For years, Barca has needed to sign a midfielder who can shoot on goal from distance. Rakitic’s long strikes add another dimension to an attack that too often gets bogged down and shut out by inferior teams in the offensive third.

Too often, defensive-minded teams (like those managed by Jose Mourinho) are content to sit 10 men behind the ball on top of their box and let Barca try (and struggle) to thread balls through a literal wall of defenders.

Rakitic’s outside shot could be just the threat needed to force those defenders to come out and defend farther up the pitch. Even if he doesn’t manage to score regularly, the threat alone will open up space for more effective tiki-taka that could allow Messi, Neymar and Suarez to link up closer to goal.

Speaking of the newly signing Suarez, the Uruguayan still hasn’t scored for the senior squad. That said, any panic over the forward’s current run of form would be premature, to say the least. Last year’s EPL Golden Boot winner has been consistently superb since his final season at Ajax half a decade ago, so there’s no reason to assume this dry spell is anything but a typical acclimation period for a new signing.

After all, no one could be expected to jump into El Clasico after a four-month ban from competitive soccer and immediately start playing at top form.

Against Ajax today, Suarez had two major chances: a one-on-one with the goalkeeper and a later opportunity to score on a chip when the keeper was out of position. His first chance was saved by Cillessen and his second resulted in the forward opting for a cross rather than a shot.

Looking at these two examples, it may be tempting to say that his clinical touch and general audacity in front of the goal have deserted him, but that would be unfair. 

Here’s why: Much like Neymar during his highly publicized first year at Barcelona, I suspect Suarez will find his legs before long.

Neymar came to Camp Nou as the talisman of a Confederations Cup-winning Brazil squad and had to learn how to integrate his playing style with an established Barca team that had a unique philosophy and a talisman of their own. Neymar is now performing just as well for his club as he has been for his national side.

Suarez, who was used to being the No. 1 target man for a much more direct Liverpool side, is simply going through a similar transition period.

However, given the fact that he already has years of top-flight European experience under his belt (something that Neymar needed extra time to adapt to), it would be reasonable to assume that Suarez will reach peak form at Barcelona much faster than his Brazilian teammate did.

When Pedro Rodriguez came on for Neymar in the 75th minute, his inch-perfect assist for Messi’s second goal proved why no Barcelona fan should be too worried about Suarez. Pedro, a longtime staple of the Catalan side’s attack, entered the match at a critical point and immediately stepped up to deliver the killer pass for his team.

He and Messi showed the deadly precision that can come from two players being on the same wavelength—and it’s only a matter of time before Suarez (arguably the world’s greatest striker) tunes into Messi’s frequency.