Ajax FC v FC Barcelona | Amsterdam ArenA | Wednesday, November 5

Ajax FC vs FC Barcelona
Location : Amsterdam ArenA
Competition : UEFA Champions League
Time : 13:45

Group F, game 4
Paris St. Germain (2-1-0) 7pts
FC Barcelona (2-0-1) 6pts
Ajax Amsterdam (0-2-1) 2pts
Apoel Nicosia (0-1-2) 1pt

Things to watch:
How will the team react to it's previous two La Liga matches.
Ajax were able to beat Barcelona at home last year, will they come out with the same attitude this game?
Will Suarez start or will he come off the bench...and if he does start will he play centrally or on the wing?
Will Ter Stegen start or will Bravo get his first UCL start for the clues.
And the million dollar question....what will our back 4 be? Not just now...but for the rest of the season

Also to note...wins by both PSG and Barcelona would automatically quality both of them for the next round. Finishing up as runners up might be a nightmare for Barcelona headed into the knock out stages; It's been a long time since we have not won the group. So this will serve as extra motivation for Ajax if they still want a chance to advance.

Ajax players to watch: More than just the players, the guy we should look out for is manger Frank de Boer. The man has shown some good signs of tactical ability and know how, and certainly looks to have the edge over Enrique in that department. As far as players, Lasse Schone and Klaassen are two guys that can drive a counter fast on unstable midfield/defense.

Barca injuries: Iniesta, Mathieu, Vermaelen, Roberto all out.

Isn't Sergi Roberto out too? (Not that we would miss him)

2-2 predicted score

and we're going to finish 2nd in this group lol

Ima lose my shit if we lose 3 straight.

-prepares to lose shit.

Vermaelen,smh. Anyway 1-1.messi.

On the one hand the kind of opponent Barcelona could thrive against. They won't sit back with 10 men. On the other hand the kind of opponent that Barca could struggle against. They will most likely press relentlessly infront of their own fans as they did last season and I don't see this Barca matching that kind of intensity except here and there for stretches.

I honestly had more faith in Tata than Lucho. Tata was winning the big games, then the second half of the season just kind of buckled under the pressure of a big club. Either that or he knew he would be replaced and stopped giving a shit...who knows. But as far as the results, I saw Tata having a more set game plan to get by the big games than what Lucho seems to do. Even though both of them had styles i didn't really care for (Lucho with the play being done through the full backs, and Tata with the direct play). To Tata's credit he never had a pre-season nor did he have a team he built...while Lucho has exactly what he wanted.

How about we get Klopp already lol

Klopp would flop with this squard *coffee*. Btw, what if lucho losses the big games and wins the league? What if lucho buckles up/gets it right in the second half of the season? (since he needs time to get it right hopefully), just like tata went loko in the second half of last season after he got it right in the first half..this squard has obviously past it a long time ago tbh..iniesta,alves,pique,basquets,xavi, a fading messi and some mediocre's like munir, sandro, s.roberto, rafinha and diego, c'mon, really hard to perform any miracles here, not even with fergie.

Barcelona line-up (official): TerStegen - Alves Bartra Mascherano Alba - Rakitic Busquets Xavi - Suarez Messi Neymar

No Pique. That's always a positive.

I like the entire line up to be honest. I would still rather start Munir/Sandro on the wing and bring in Suarez after the break. Slowly get him involved.

Bankz wrote:Klopp would flop with this squard *coffee*. Btw, what if lucho losses the big games and wins the league? What if lucho buckles up/gets it right in the second half of the season? (since he needs time to get it right hopefully), just like tata went loko in the second half of last season after he got it right in the first half..this squard has obviously past it a long time ago tbh..iniesta,alves,pique,basquets,xavi, a fading messi and some mediocre's like munir, sandro, s.roberto, rafinha and diego, c'mon, really hard to perform any miracles here, not even with fergie.

Lucho has never done anything to make me think he is the man to lead our team....other than play for us along time ago. Those are his credentials as a manager.

I go with windkick on this one. Start munir and sub in suarez later on..a careful integeration should be key here. But lucho being lucho.

Bankz wrote:I go with windkick on this one. Start munir and sub in suarez later on..a careful integeration should be key here. But lucho being lucho.

Well the club spent 100M + on Suarez; I'm sure they are coming down on him and want him to play.

This isn't going to end well.

Smh..

Ajax are making us look like scrubs right now.

Dem scrubs. Whats more scary is that we're stuck with this bunch till 2016.

54 per cent possession for Ajax first half.

Finally pedro gives an assist, suddenly messi beats cr7 to rauls record..btw suarez is obviously worn-out and all lucho does is sub neymar (one of the on form players this season) when he should be guaranteed 90 mins since he's one of the really few great players we have..messi has been very good tonight but u cant deny the fact that he's glory hunting pretty seriously right now..midfield ignoring suarez all game. Although suarez has looked disconcerted from the attack mostly.

Yea I think Suarez is having a hard time adapting to Lucho's tactical system on the right. Whereas at Liverpool he was pretty much free up the middle to put it up whosoever butt got in the way.

Bankz wrote:Finally pedro gives an assist, suddenly messi beats cr7 to rauls record..

Aren't they tied?

Missed the game, seems like thats a good thing.

Maybe I shouldnt watch it now?

If you want to see how atroscious Alves was you should.

Im gonna find it hard to believe 54% Ajax possession was Alves fault.

Im sure someone has a way to do so though lol

Surprised that happened in the first half. We had a solid midfield out there; but allot of it just came down to the fact Ajax is faster than us and were good at exploiting it.