Messi sinks Ajax as Chelsea suffer home defeat.

Argentine whizkid Lionel Messi was again at his best on Wednesday night as Barcelona thumped Dutch champions, Ajax FC 4-0 at the Nou Camp.

Argentine whizkid Lionel Messi was again at his best on Wednesday night as Barcelona thumped Dutch champions, Ajax FC 4-0 at the Nou Camp.

It was however not rosy for Jose Mourinho's Chelsea as they suffered a shock 2-1 loss at home against Swiss side Basel.

In the Barca game, Messi who scored a hat-trick in  Group H tie  started the goal rout against Ajax in the 22nd minute when he curled in a free kick from just outside the box.

Ajax put up a stout display from then on and even though they could not get the equalizer they kept the scores respectable at 1-0 for the first half.

Things however took a different turn in the second half as Barca upped the tempo as they added three more goals to end the tie convincingly with a 4-0 victory.

Messi scored two more goals in the second half while Gerrard Pique was also on the scorer's sheet for the La Liga champions.

In the other games Arsenal's good run of form continued as they earned a 2-1 win over their host Olympic Mareseille and it was the same result as Napoli beat Bosrrusia Dortmund.

In Italy, Super Eagles defnder Efe Ambrose and his Celtic teammates were defeated 2-0 by AC Milan.