While Celtic blew hot and cold to see off St Johnstone on Saturday their Group H rivals in the Champions League were also experiencing the trials and tribulations of returning to domestic action.
On Wednesday night while Celtic went down 2-0 to Milan over in the Nou Camp Barcelona hammered Ajax 4-0 with both teams experiencing that scoreline again at the weekend.
Away to Rayo Vallecano Barcelona struck four times without reply. Lionel Messi failed to follow up his hat-trick against Ajax but Pedro scoring three times before Cesc Fabregas completed the scoring the Argentinian is unlikely to be too upset.
The win keeps Barcelona in op spot alongside Atletico Madrid with full points from five matches, Real Madrid are two points behind with 13 points from five games.
Over in Holland Ajax crumbled to a 4-0 defeat away to PSV Eindhoven with Neil Lennon watching from the stand at the Phillips Stadium.
PSV scored all four goals during a devastating 15 minute period in the second half to leave Ronald de Boer’s side languishing in seventh place with just two wins from seven matches. PSV are in top place with 15 points from five games.
In Serie A Milan lost 2-1 at home to Napoli with the visitors apparently immune to a Champions League hangover, racing into a two goal lead early in the second half before losing a late consolation to Mario Balotelli.
Napoli and Roma both have full points from four matches at the top of Serie A with Milan languishing in 11th place with just four points from four matches.
I don’t think these results mean that much to us, more importantly is that Neil Lennon was there to run the rule over them. Hopefully he will have picked up on some points that we can exploit when we play them.
If it was all about one result then after watching Man City totally destroy a good Man utd yesterday we may as well give them the CL, EPL and FA cup now as they looked absolutely unbeatable. But footballs ” A FUNNY OLD GAME”
Hail hail
I think Ajax had a free for all everything must go sale of players this summer. Whatever team Ajax were fielding last season, they’re a completely different outfit this season, an outfit who are obviously having severe problems.
I think de Boer might be having some severe problems himself if he can’t pull it together
HH
Let just wait and see Ajax has always been a good team Hail Hail
I guess we will Thomas.
I remember the huns were always a good team.
HH
I’ll qualify that for you Thomas, Ajax have sold eight players, mostly 1st team, and loaned one player out to Barca. Last seasons team were 3 in a row eredivisie Champs and saw attendancies the highest seen in Amsterdam in over two decades, with last season seeing capacity attendances. Add to that results in Europe including humping Man City.
They have brought in players, two two and a half mill players, an attacking M/F and a C/B, the rest are two loan players and players brought in from their youth subsiduary club set up (joung Ajax Amsterdam).
Feyenord pulled a similar stroke in 2002 after winning the Uefa cup, the year before Seville.The Feyenord board decided to cash in while they could, and made a packet, but very little of that packet seen it’s way onto the playing field.
Feyenord have struggled since, struggling mid table and maybe only now, after more than a decade, are recovering…as I said maybe.
They went from a side top three eredivise side to a side that made third place only 3 times in over a decade, though managed a second place the season before last, hence the improvement mentioned.
I think we all, maybe more so in Scotland, understand exactly what ‘has been’ means.
Ajax may well get it together, we’re known slow starters ourselves, but Ajax have just been humped 4-0 back to back in their last two games, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
HH