2016-11-23: Celtic 0-2 Barcelona, European Cup

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Trivia

• Champions League 2016-17, Match 5
• Celtic out of Europe now, Man City drew with Borussia M, ending our chances of 3rd place.
• Celtic currently on 2pts, Borussia ahead on 5pts in 3rd, but better head-to-head.
• Villain of the day was Brazilian Neymar who after a silly challenge had a vendetta that just spiralle out of control v Lustig, and Neymar should have been red carded. Later in the week he crashed his €240k Ferrari today. Thankfully left unhurt, but he is not a popular figure and there is no sympathy.
• Celtic at start of day needing to win at least one game v Man City or Barca, and for Borussia M to lose both their matches, for Celtic to come 3rd in group.
• At Press Conference before game, Brendan Rodgers asked by a Spanish journo if Loch Ness Monster existing or Messi being human is more believable. His reply: "That’s the worst question I’ve been asked." There is nothing you can truly add to that.
• Francie Hilton, a key man at the corporate level at Celtic, has passed away. A genuinely respected man by those in the support who met him, he is noted as one of the important men who helped guide Fergus McCann during the transition of the club during the pivotal Celtic Takeover days. For that we have full respect for him. RIP.
• Jordan Larsson, the son of Celtic legend Henrik Larsson, was attacked by angry Helsingborgs fans after the Swedish side were relegated from the Allsvenskan. Larsson Snr currently manages the club and he had flares and chairs thrown at him as they lost out to Halmstad in a relegation play-off.
• Reports: (1) Kilmarnock are leading the chase for a loan move for young Celtic defender Eoghan O’Connell. (2) Celtic are ready to bid £2.5million for out-of-favour Crystal Palace midfielder Jordan Mutch. The 24-year-old, who the Eagles signed from QPR for £4.75m two years ago, has been told that he has no future at Selhurst Park.
• Tennis: Scottish tennis legend Andy Murray cements his position as world no.1 at end of year with emphatic victory over world no.2 in tennis world tour finals on Sunday past. He has had an incredible year, and so well done to the Hibbee, a real gem for Scotland. Hoping him the best for next year. His brother is the no.1 Tennis doubles player in the world. So great Xmas ahead for the family.

Review

(Owenbhoy of KDS)
Thought we played well first half against arguably a top 3 team in World football.
Didn't see the second half though.

What gets me, for these big teams is how referees constantly give them fouls when one of their players hit the deck.
So many times in that first half Celtic had, what looked to be clearly fouled and ref waves it away only for a Barca player (take your pic from Busquets, Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Alba) hitting the turf and instant fould given.
Heck Erik only got booked too because Messi said to the ref that he probably should be.

Then you move on to these sheisters.
Just like Ronaldo, Suarez and Neymar are terrific football players.
But they are so far removed from being actual sportsmen.
In fact they are quite despicable people when you look at their antics.
When you look at players like Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Piquet, how they play and conduct themselves.
That is to be admired and applauded, not those other nuggets.
Then Ronaldo wonders why he doesn't get as much good press as Messi ?

Admire their football, yes, but I don't get the whole love in with Barcelona from a lot of our fans and our board.
I retweeted that piping the Barca bus up to the stadium, but in all honesty it was more from disbelief than anything.
Looking at it is totally cringeworthy.

Brendan clearly has us moving in the right direction, and his words came across on the pitch last night.
We didn't look phased or scared to take a chance, to make certain passes etc.
In fact that is probably the most I have seen us make passes into areas where the best teams seem to only make passes.
We just don't have the overall quality of player to make it effective enough to punish a team like that.
I look forward to further improvement.

(fatboab of KDS)
Neymar is an odious ,loathsome Hun bastard .

That went pretty much as expected. We couldn't take what little by way of chances came our way, and they seemingly could have gone up a few gears if required. Messi is from another galaxy.
Positives, and there were a few , were our centre halves looked very decent, Brown was effective in stellar company, and Gordon and Izzy had excellent games. Dembele played well first half but his head seemed to go down when he missed the header. He should have scored. Interesting that he's twice missed great opportunities at 0-1, and we've been punished immediately both times.
It's hard to criticise too much, but we need a radical overhaul of our midfield, and hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later.
But, oh, please later in this life or in the next, can I have five minutes alone in a room with just Neymar and a sledgehammer.

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Celtic

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BBC

By Tom English

BBC Scotland at Celtic Park

From the section Football 125

Lionel Messi scores
Lionel Messi (centre) converted a floated Neymar ball to put the visitors ahead

Celtic were eliminated from European competition as Barcelona won to secure top spot in Champions League Group C.

Lionel Messi struck the opener from Neymar's sumptuous pass, and only a stunning Craig Gordon save prevented Luis Suarez from heading home a second.

Moussa Dembele spurned Celtic's best chance before Messi scored a penalty.

Though Celtic can still draw level on points with Borussia Monchengladbach in third, the German side have a superior head-to-head record.

Brendan Rodgers' side remain on two points, having lost twice to Barca – who opened the group stage with a 7-0 win over Celtic – and at home to Gladbach.
Moussa Dembele heads towards goal
Dembele (far right) could not bring Celtic level

The Scottish champions, who came through two rounds of qualifiers and a play-off to reach the group stage, visit Manchester City on 6 December, when Barcelona host the German side.

City and Barca have qualified for the last 16, with Gladbach dropping into the Europa League in the New Year.
Celtic come out firing

Rodgers said his team learned all the bitter lessons from the annihilation in Barcelona, and it showed in the early minutes.

Celtic were focused and aggressive. Scott Brown dumped Sergio Busquets on the floor to the roars of the home crowd and there was an aggression about their work that suggested there would be no repeat of the embarrassment of the Nou Camp.

Class won out, though. Barcelona's threat grew as the opening half wore on. Ivan Rakitic and Andre Gomes went close before the breakthrough came, a familiar act of ruthlessness from two of the planet's most unforgiving talents.
Celtic players
Celtic will play their final European match of the season early next month
Messi strikes

Barcelona scored their first goal courtesy of a classic piece of telepathy between Neymar and Messi. Celtic did not seem to be in much danger mere seconds before the ball was in their net. They had nine defenders behind the ball and, seemingly, everything under control.

When Neymar took possession on the left their problems began. Nobody pressed him quickly enough. The Brazilian had time to take a look and size up the situation. What he saw was four Celtic defenders waiting for his cross, then a corridor of space, then another five Celtic men behind the corridor.

Into the space ran Messi, as he does. At the precise moment he began his run, Neymar dinked in his delivery, a thing of weighted precision that Messi lashed past Gordon at his near post.

It could have got worse for Celtic very quickly. Messi put in a cross from the right just before the break and, from point-blank range, Suarez could not put it home. Gordon made a terrific save to delay the pain.
Luis Suarez and Craig Gordon
Suarez was denied by Gordon, but won the penalty that clinched Barcelona's win
Two pivotal moments

James Forrest came on for the injured Scott Sinclair at the break and it was the winger who created a golden chance of an equaliser. His cross was met by Dembele, but the striker could not get enough power into his header to beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen. It was a big chance, and how Celtic Park groaned in that moment.

Their angst only intensified a few minutes later when Emilio Izaguirre pulled down Suarez and conceded the penalty that Messi converted. It was his fifth goal against Celtic in two Champions League matches this season and his 92nd in the competition overall. Otherworldly.

The rest of it was a procession for Barcelona. Neymar, on a yellow card following a clash with Mikael Lustig, was a bit fortunate not to be sent off before he was taken off, having gone in rashly in a separate challenge on Lustig. The Celtic Park crowd let him have it as he went. Neymar could not have cared less.

One of the last acts was another glaring miss from Suarez from more sumptuous build-up play from Messi. It hardly mattered. Celtic were out of the game, out of the Champions League – and out of Europe.

Celtic 0 – 2 Barcelona: Celtic eliminated from Europe

Tom Rogic looks on helplessly as Lionel Messi opens the scoring for Barcelona. Picture: PA

Stephen Halliday

On a night when Celtic had hoped lightning might strike twice, it was instead a double by Lionel Messi which formally ended their hopes of further progress in this season’s Champions League.
Click here for the latest results, fixtures and stats>>>
There was no repeat of their famous 2012 scalping of Barcelona for the Scottish champions whose spirited efforts were insufficient to resist the brilliance of Messi. The Argentinian wizard, who plundered a hat-trick in Barca’s 7-0 drubbing of Brendan Rodgers’ side at the start of the Group C campaign, did the damage again with a sublime opener midway through the first half and a penalty after the break.
The Scottish champions at least restored a level of self respect against their illustrious visitors who had to work much harder this time for the victory which guides them safely into the last 16 of the tournament.
Celtic can no longer even garner the consolation of relocation to the Europa League, as the 1-1 draw between Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City in Germany condemned them to finish bottom of the group regardless of how they fare in their final fixture away to the English side on 6 December.
READ MORE – Five things we learned from Celtic 0 – 2 Barcelona
Until Messi conjured up a typically incisive contribution to give Barcelona the single goal advantage they enjoyed at the break, there had been no shortage of encouragement for the home support in their team’s approach to last night’s contest. There was an element of back to basics by Rodgers as he looked to avoid the kind of passivity which marked the mauling experienced in the Nou Camp two months earlier when he had deployed a three-man central defence.
It was a traditional back four this time, with Jozo Simunovic making his Champions League debut at the heart of it, with Callum McGregor’s inclusion on the right of midfield in preference to James Forrest another nod to a more pragmatic strategy.
Having committed just three fouls all night when Barcelona rang rings around them on that chastening matchday one, Celtic were determined to make their presence felt on their own path, as evidenced when captain Scott Brown left a calling card on Sergio Busquets in the opening minutes.
The hosts started on the front foot, pressing high up the pitch, and Scott Sinclair saw a positive run into the penalty area crowded out by Gerard Pique. It was enough to raise the noise levels inside Celtic Park which were maintained when Sinclair latched on to a fine pass from Emilio Izaguirre and whipped over a cross which Javier Mascherano had to scramble away under pressure from Moussa Dembele.
READ MORE – Neymar provides grace and joy as Barca reassert authority
But there was an inevitability about the gradual increase in possession seized by Barcelona. The first warning sign for the home defence came when they were wrong-footed by Messi’s brilliant crossfield pass to Neymar. The ball was returned to Messi whose deflected shot prompted a potentially calamitous mix-up between Craig Gordon and Erik Sviatchenko before the danger was eventually cleared.
Sinclair appeared unfortunate to be pulled up for offside when he raced clear on to a superb through pass from Brown, but Celtic were generally finding it increasingly more difficult to hold on to the ball.
Messi might have done better than scuff a shot wide from around 12 yards after a slick move involving Neymar and Jordi Alba, then Ivan Rakitic was too deliberate with a good headed chance which he sent wide of Gordon’s right-hand post.
It was almost as if Barcelona had suddenly sensed the breakthrough was there for the taking and it duly arrived in the 24th minute. Sviatchenko was booked for a foul on Messi and, from the free-kick, the visitors patiently worked the ball from one side of the Celtic penalty area to another.
Neymar picked it up on the left and lofted a cute pass over the Celtic defence into the path of Messi whose firm and precise left-foot shot from around eight yards beat Gordon at the goalkeeper’s near post.
READ MORE – Celtic 0 – 2 Barcelona: How Celtic’s players rated
On an evening when the strong feeling was that Celtic would need to score first to have any realistic prospect of victory, it was a sharp blow for Rodgers’ men who took some time to regain any impetus.
They did force Marc-Andre ter Stegen into his first save of the match nine minutes before half-time when the Barcelona keeper gathered a Dembele shot fairly comfortably. The degree of difficulty was far greater at the other end for Gordon when he made a stunning save to keep out Luis Suarez’s close-range header from a Messi cross.
Celtic were forced into a change at the start of the second half, James Forrest replacing Sinclair, who sustained a painful injury when fouled by Alba just before the break. The substitute played his part in a brighter spell for the home side which should have culminated in an equaliser in the 53rd minute.
Forrest delivered an inviting cross from the right which left Dembele with a free header just outside the six-yard box. But the French striker, who failed to convert a penalty when the score was just 1-0 in the away fixture, could only direct a tame effort straight at ter Stegen.
READ MORE – Jozo Simunovic proves he belongs at Champions League level
That missed opportunity was punished to the full when Barcelona doubled their lead from the spot two minutes later. Izaguirre was incensed by the decision but the left-back was caught the wrong side of Suarez before grappling with the forward who needed little encouragement to go down. Messi, completely unfazed by Celtic’s protests, calmly sent Gordon the wrong way with the penalty.
Messi and Suarez both missed glaring chances to underline Barcelona’s superiority in the closing stages and Celtic would have heard the final whistle with an element of relief.

Celtic 0 – 2 Barcelona: How Celtic’s players rated

The Celtic starting XI prior to kick-off. Picture: SNS

Craig Fowler

Despite a valiant effort, Celtic went down to Barcelona by two goals to nil after a double from Lionel Messi. Here’s how the home players marked out of 10
Click here for the latest results, fixtures and stats>>>
Craig Gordon – 8
The goalkeeper made a tremendous save from Luis Suarez towards the end of the first half which kept Celtic in the game beyond the interval. He could do little to stop either of Barcelona’s goals.
Mikael Lustig – 6
The right back had plenty of space to run into in the first half as Callum McGregor continually drifted inside, but the Swede struggled to cover both his attacking as defensive responsibilities as he had to adopt a cautious mentality when dealing with the threat of Barcelona.
Jozo Simunovic – 7
Making his first ever Champions League start, the Croat showed himself to be solid at the elite level. Given an unenviable task of limiting the Barcelona attackers, he made a couple of crucial blocks.
Erik Sviatchenko – 6
Slow on the turn a couple of times, he couldn’t get across quickly enough to deny Lionel Messi at the opening goal, though he would have expected better cover from the tracking midfielders.
Emilio Izaguirre – 6
Was enjoying a strong evening on the left side of Celtic’s defence as he tore into tackles and won his defensive duels. However, he blotted his copybook by fouling Suarez inside the penalty area, giving Messi the chance to kill the game from the spot.
Scott Brown – 8
Messi made him a meme with a filthy piece of skill which left the Celtic captain on his backside. Well-shared GIFs aside, Brown enjoyed a strong evening in the centre of the Celtic midfield as he helped his side compete, possession-wise, in a manner few expected before the match.
Stuart Armstrong – 6
The ex-Dundee United man helped Brown by getting in the faces of Barcelona attackers and helped drive his side forward from deep. However, too often he committed a sloppy pass or touch in the final third.
Callum McGregor – 5
Was a surprise pick on the right side of midfield and never really justified his selection ahead of Patrick Roberts and James Forrest, though he did bring energy and helped clogged the centre of the park by continually drifting inside on Barca attacks.
Tom Rogic – 5
Frustrating night for the playmaker as Barcelona shackled him effectively. Even when he did manage to pry himself from an attentive defender, few things came off for the influential attacker.
Scott Sinclair – 6
Looked his usual lively self and contributed to a stellar pressing game before a foul from Jordi Alba, which halted a promising counter, saw him pick up the injury which forced him from the action at half-time.
Moussa Dembele – 6
Initially struggled to hold up play and, even though he would grow into the game, will forever lament the opportunity that came his way with Celtic still in the match at 1-0.
Substitutes
James Forrest (for Sinclair, 46 mins) 7 – Added much-needed direct running and purpose in the final third. Should have started.
Nir Bitton (for Tom Rogic, 64 mins) 5 – Couldn’t do much to changes things as the game slipped away from Celtic.
Patrick Roberts (for McGregor, 77 mins) 5 – Tried to be direct and run at Barca’s defenders, but often easily dispossessed.
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