BARCELONA, Spain -- Lionel Messi marked his 80th Champions League match with a hat trick on Wednesday as Barcelona began its cam

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BARCELONA, Spain -- Lionel Messi marked his 80th Champions League match with a hat trick on Wednesday as Barcelona began its campaign in Group H with a 4-0 rout of Ajax. Jimmy Paredes Orioles Jersey . The Argentina forward opened the scoring at Camp Nou Stadium with a free kick in the 22nd minute, doubled the hosts advantage in the 55th on the break and, after Gerard Piques 69th-minute goal, added another 15 minutes from fulltime. The goals took his cumulative tally in the competition to 62 -- nine short of Raul Gonzalezs all-time record of 71 goals in 144 appearances. Messi now stands alone as the only player to have scored a hat trick four times in the tournament. "From (Frank) Rijkaard until now, the coaches that have come through here, every two or three games they have talked about how surprised they are by him, and I am just one more," said Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino, who will travel to his native Argentina following the death of his father on Tuesday. Despite some lethargic moments late in the first half, Barcelona eased to the win thanks to Messis goals and the teams near complete control of possession. When Ajax did manage to create a scoring opportunity, Valdes was there to keep a clean sheet. "As the game went on we adapted better as we figured out what to do," said Messi. "We couldnt put pressure on them at the beginning because they read the match perfectly." AC Milan beat Celtic 2-0 in the nights other Group H game. True to both teams well-established playing styles, Barcelona and Ajax kept the ball on the turf. While Ajax was limited to former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkics sprints down the left side, Barcelona soon focused on Neymar cutting in from the left flank. But it fell to Messi to get the hosts going after he was fouled while dribbling across the edge of the area following a neat passing combination with Dani Alves. From that prime spot, Messi sent a left-foot shot off the left post, with the ball beating outstretched goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer before ricocheting into the far side of the net. "We know that Messi can always score, and he did," said Ajax coach Frank de Boer, a former Barcelona defender. "His free kick was very good, very fast. "I cant be happy. When you allow four goals you cant be. But I saw moments that we can build on for the games ahead." Ricardo van Rhijn almost answered for Ajax in the 31st when Bojan picked him out with a cross, only for Valdes to smother his header. The home crowd became nervous near the end of the first half, and Barcelona apparently took note by showing the defensive pressure Martino had said was his top priority to restore after the break. The increased intensity paid off when Barcelona recovered the ball and Sergio Busquets spotted Messi running unmarked down the right side. Messi took his pass, cut back to bring Stefano Denswil to the ground and used his left foot to score. Neymar, in his European debut, set up Gerard Pique to add Barcelonas third goal with a long cross. Ajax lost possession near its area and Xavi Hernandez laid the ball off for Messi to take his time before driving it between a pair of defenders and into the corner of the net for his third goal. Valdes had his moment of glory one minute later in the 76th when he blocked Kolbeinn Sigthorssons penalty after Javier Mascherano fouled Thulani Serero in the box. "We played a better second half," said Martino. "We were more comfortable than in the first and took control of the game. It was a good performance, not as brilliant as the 4-0 looks, but we won it fairly. "Barcelona is full of individual talents. Today we can talk about Messi and Valdes, another day Xavi or Neymar. It is normal that one of them rises to the occasion." Ajaxs defeat was its ninth consecutive loss to a Spanish opponent. Ajaxs last victory in Spain dates back even farther to the 1996-97 season when De Boer helped the Dutch team win at Atletico Madrid. The two four-time champions had never met before in Europes top-tier competition. Even so, fewer teams from different countries have stronger ties. Dutch great Johan Cruyff led Ajax to three straight European titles from 1971-73 as a player before moving to Barcelona, where he would later return as a coach to guide it to its first European title in 1992. Eddie Murray Jersey .That sight softened the blow of what ended up as a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Knowing their teammate was fine after a scary headfirst fall in the opening minute of the game helped calm the Maple Leafs. Yovani Gallardo Orioles Jersey .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. http://www.baseballoriolesproshop.com/brooks-robinson-orioles-jersey/ . Perhaps as important, shes sending a message to 17-year-old gold medal favourite Sara Takanashi of Japan. Iraschko-Stolz relegated Takanashi, who has 10 World Cup victories this season, to second place in two of three training jumps Saturday.Frisco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - North Dakota State and Illinois State are likely seeing a lot of similarities in the other as they prepare for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on Saturday. The co-champions of the Missouri Valley Football Conference figure to make the championship game at Toyota Stadium a physical affair. Both will try to win the line of scrimmage and force the other into mistakes. North Dakota State is seeking an unprecedented fourth straight FCS national title. Illinois State will appear in the final for the first time. The season statistics of the two finalists: NORTH DAKOTA STATE (14-1) TEAM STATISTICS (NDSU, OPPONENTS) SCORING: 498, 198 Points Per Game: 33.2, 13.2 Points Off Turnovers: 110, 23 FIRST DOWNS: 321, 222 Rushing: 165, 102 Passing: 136, 104 Penalty: 20, 16 RUSHING YARDAGE: 3,549, 1,739 Yards Gained Rushing: 3,736, 2,119 Yards Lost Rushing: 187, 380 Rushing Attempts: 669, 493 Average Per Rush: 5.3, 3.5 Average Per Game: 236.6, 115.9 TDs Rushing: 33, 13 PASSING YARDAGE: 2,915, 2,323 Comp-Att-Int: 216-342-10, 226-423-18 Average Per Pass: 8.5, 5.5 Average Per Catch: 13.5, 10.3 Average Per Game: 194.3, 154.9 TDs Passing: 25, 8 TOTAL OFFENSE: 6,464, 4,062 Total Plays: 1,011, 916 Average Per Play: 6.4, 4.4 Average Per Game: 430.9, 270.8 KICK RETURNS: Number-Yards: 31-601, 50-1,006 PUNT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 26-250, 17-180 INT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 18-242, 10-80 KICK RETURN AVERAGE: 19.4, 20.1 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE: 9.6, 10.6 INT RETURN AVERAGE: 13.4, 8.0 FUMBLES-LOST: 14-5, 24-9 PENALTIES-Yards: 91-746, 72-598 Average Per Game: 49.7, 39.9 PUNTS-Yards: 57-2,558, 86-3,660 Average Per Punt: 44.9, 42.6 Net Punt Average: 38.6, 38.7 KICKOFFS-Yards: 98-6,086, 48-2,900 Average Per Kick: 62.1, 60.4 Net Kick Average: 41.6, 40.1 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game: 33:51, 26:09 3RD-DOWN Conversions: 97/198, 66/211 3rd-Down Pct: .490, .313 4TH-DOWN Conversions: 5/9, 15/32 4th-Down Pct: . Frank Robinson Jersey. 555, .469 SACKS BY-Yards: 42-272, 16-88 MISC YARDS: 0, -1 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED: 60, 23 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS: 26-31, 13-18 ON-SIDE KICKS: 0-0, 0-2 RED-ZONE SCORES: 55-63 (.873), 26-31 (.83 RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS: 39-63 (.619), 16-31 (.516) PAT-ATTEMPTS: 58-59 (.983), 21-21 (1.000) ILLINOIS STATE (13-1) TEAM STATISTICS (ISU, OPPONENTS) SCORING: 547, 293 Points Per Game: 39.1, 20.9 Points Off Turnovers: 246, 165 FIRST DOWNS: 321, 243 Rushing: 161, 96 Passing; 137, 125 Penalty: 23, 22 RUSHING YARDAGE: 3,352, 1,581 Yards Gained Rushing: 3,624, 1,969 Yards Lost Rushing: 272, 388 Rushing Attempts: 608, 486 Average Per Rush: 5.5, 3.3 Average Per Game: 239.4, 112.9 TDs Rushing: 40, 17 PASSING YARDAGE: 3,178, 3,118 Comp-Att-Int: 204-349-10, 247-461-18 Average Per Pass: 9.1, 6.8 Average Per Catch: 15.6, 12.6 Average Per Game: 227.0, 222.7 TDs Passing: 29, 18 TOTAL OFFENSE: 6,530, 4,699 Total Plays: 957, 947 Average Per Play: 6.8, 5.0 Average Per Game: 466.4, 335.6 KICK RETURNS: Number-Yards: 46-986, 66-1,270 PUNT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 23-112, 21-182 INT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 18-221, 10-88 KICK RETURN AVERAGE: 21.4, 19.2 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE: 4.9, 8.7 INT RETURN AVERAGE: 12.3, 8.8 FUMBLES-LOST: 21-13, 16-8 PENALTIES-Yards: 70-610, 81-781 Average Per Game: 43.6, 55.8 PUNTS-Yards: 59-2,386, 85-3,257 Average Per Punt: 40.4, 38.3 Net Punt Average: 35.3, 35.4 KICKOFFS-Yards: 99-5,579, 60-3,190 Average Per Kick: 56.4, 53.2 Net Kick Average: 37.7, 34.2 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game: 31:58, 28:02 3RD-DOWN Conversions: 96/189, 73/210 3rd-Down Pct: .508, .348 4TH-DOWN Conversions: 8/11, 9/24 4th-Down Pct: .727, .375 SACKS BY-Yards: 40-215, 21-130 MISC YARDS: 0, 12 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED: 72, 38 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS: 14-19, 10-14 ON-SIDE KICKS: 0-0, 1-3 RED-ZONE SCORES: 47-60 (.783), 31-40 (.775) RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS: 36-60 (.600), 21-40 (.525) PAT-ATTEMPTS: 67-70 (.957), 27-29 (.931) Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '