Luis Suarez is poised to make
his first Champions League
appearance for Barcelona
against his former club Ajax on
Wednesday.
Suarez's return from a four-
month suspension for biting Giorgio Chiellini in the
World Cup has not gone as expected, with Barca beaten
by Real Madrid and Celta Vigo in his first two
competitive appearances for the club.
The Uruguay striker, who made five appearances for
Ajax in this competition, will be eager to end that run
when he makes his Champions League debut for the
Catalan giants against the club with whom he shot to
prominence.
Suarez scored 111 goals in 159 games in a three-year
spell with Eredivisie champions Ajax before moving to
Liverpool, and Barca will be eager to see him rise to the
occasion in Amsterdam.
The Catalian giants have slipped to fourth in La Liga
after suffering a 1-0 home loss against Celta on
Saturday, a week after their 3-1 El Clasico defeat at the
Santiago Bernabeu.
Coach Luis Enrique urged the Catalan giants to "stand
up" and "move forward" following their defeat at Camp
Nou at the weekend.
A victory in Amsterdam will see Barca progress from
Group F if APOEL fail to beat Paris-Saint Germain and
Spain midfielder Sergio Busquets is determined to
respond from their recent setbacks.
"We've had a bad week," he said on Monday. "What we
want to do now is turn things around.
"Hopefully we can put an end to this poor run."
Ajax secured a 2-1 home win over Barca in last season's
group stages despite playing much of the second half
with 10 men following Joel Veltman's sending off, which
resulted in Xavi putting the visitors in front from the
penalty spot.
And Busquets is wary of the threat posed by Frank de
Boer's side.
"They came out strong and were all over us at the start
of the game." he said. "With the sending off and our
goal, everything changed. I hope it doesn't happen
again."
Lionel Messi has not scored in Barca's last two games
and he needs another two strikes to equal Raul's record
of 71 Champions League goals, with Cristiano
Ronaldo just one shy of the mark set by the Real
Madrid legend.
Andres Iniesta and Jeremy Mathieu miss out due to calf
injuries, while Sergi Roberto (groin) and
Thomas Vermaelen (thigh) are also sidelined.
Ajax will move just a point behind Luis Enrique's men if
they are secure three precious points on Wednesday.
De Boer's team warmed up for the crunch clash by
hammering Dordrecht 4-0 on Saturday and they have
reeled off three wins in a row, scoring 11 goals in the
process.
The Dutch club - who lost 3-1 at Camp Nou a fortnight
ago - will be without forward Viktor Fischer due to a
hamstring problem.
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