Messi hat-trick sees Barca sweep aside Ajax
LONDON: Jose Mourinho’s dreams of winning the Champions League with Chelsea suffered an early setback on Wednesday when the Londoners fell to a shock 2-1 home defeat by Swiss champions Basel in their opening Group E match.
There was less surprise elsewhere as La Liga champions Barcelona defeated Ajax 4-0 at home thanks to a Lionel Messi hat-trick.
Arsenal were 2-1 winners at Marseille, while Porto won 1-0 at Austria Vienna.
Last season’s finalists Borussia Dortmund also lost, 1-2 to Napoli, but the vital away goal could help them in the return leg.
Chelsea, beaten in the Premier League by Everton on Saturday, looked short of ideas all night in a stuttering display, though they led 1-0 following a neat finish by Oscar just before halftime.
The Brazilian hit the bar soon after the restart as Chelsea briefly turned on the style but they were never able to take complete control and Mohamed Salah equalised in the 71st minute.
Basel, beaten by Chelsea in the Europa League semifinals last season, grew in confidence and scored again 10 minutes later when captain and centre forward Marco Streller cleverly glanced in a near-post header from a corner.
“I’m not in shock,” Mourinho told Sky Sports after Chelsea’s first home defeat in the Champions League group stage in 30 matches. “Sometimes you win sometimes you lose.
“I’m not happy of course. We have taken a step back in qualification but we have to assume responsibility. We have five games left to finish in the top two.
“Basel played very well. We had a lot of the ball but we couldn’t create many chances. Emotionally this is not a mature team and when you are in a difficult position it was not enough.”
Chelsea gave a debut to 30 million-pound (Rs 297.65 crore)signing Willian and a first home start for 20-year-old Marco van Ginkel but they were pedestrian and disjointed for most of the first half.
A neat pass by the ever-aware Lampard enabled Oscar to give them a flattering halftime lead and their formidable home record in the competition looked safe.
Basel, who took four points off Manchester United in the Champions League in the 2011-12 season, were always in the game and it was no real surprise when they levelled after Salah played a nice one-two with Streller and curled in a confident low shot.
They went close again soon after through Streller but Chelsea failed to heed the warning and the big forward got in front of Gary Cahill to head the winner nine minutes from the end.
With Schalke 04 and Steaua Bucharest making up the group the defeat should not necessarily be terminal for Chelsea, who failed to get out of their group last year, but it was not the start Mourinho had planned when he returned to the club from Real Madrid three months ago.
Schalke won 3-0 at home to Steaua.
In other results, AC Milan hosted Celtic and were 2-0 winners, while Atletico Madrid cruised to a 3-1 victory over Zenit St Petersburg.
In Barcelona, Messi opened the scoring on 22 minutes with a sensational free-kick and made the game safe 10 minutes after half-time with a typically cool left-footed finish.
Gerard Pique added a third when he headed Neymar’s cross past the stranded Kenneth Vermeer before Messi rounded off the scoring 15 minutes from time.
“In the first-half we found it a bit difficult because they played well, but in the second we moved the ball much better and controlled the game,” Messi said after the game.
“In general I think we played a very good game. The more variety we have the better. There are games where we need to manage the ball, control the game, and others which are more difficult where we will need to do a bit more.”
Messi also took time to lend his support to coach Gerardo Martino, who will fly back to Argentina after the game to attend his father’s funeral.
“It was a special game. It is a shame what has happened and he is suffering, but we are all with him in this moment.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was full of praise for Aaron Ramsey after the Welsh midfielder continued his stunning start to the season with what proved to be the winning goal against Marseille.
Ramsey’s sixth goal of the season in all competitions came after Theo Walcott had given the Gunners a 65th-minute lead in a Group F match at the Stade Velodrome, and ultimately separated the sides as Jordan Ayew pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
The 2-1 win was Arsenal’s sixth on the bounce in all competitions since a 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa on the opening day of the Premier League season and was their 10th consecutive victory away from home, a new club record.
Honestly I didn’t expect him to score so many goals, but he has especially improved with his passing and his technical quality,” Wenger said.
“That is the most important because he was always in good positions in the box. Scoring is a bit cyclic. You have some periods where it goes in and periods where it doesn’t but for me the most important is the quality of his game.” (Agencies)