Celtic blasted 7-0 by Barcelona in Champions League opener
BARCELONA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 13: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with his teammate Neymar JR during the UEFA Champions League Group C match between FC Barcelona and Celtic FC at Camp Nou on September 13, 2016 in Barcelona. Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos/Getty Images). (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
It took just three minutes in to the match for Messi to make his presence felt, getting loose on the left side of the pitch and slotting home an easy one from just yards out to put Barcelona up 1-0 on the Bhoys.
Ninety minutes later and Celtic were completely thrashed by perhaps the best team in the world today. After the high of the weekend, it was right back to earth courtesy of Barcelona and its 7-0 thrashing of the men in Hoops.
Lionel Messi poured in a hattrick (3′, 27′, 60′), surrounded by single goals from Neymar (50′) and Andres Iniesta (59′). However, it was a brace from the third of the three-headed Barcelona attack, Luis Suarez, that put the final nails in a quickly built Celtic coffin.
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Brendan Rodgers’ former Liverpool signing netted a brace with goals No. 6 (75′) and No. 7 (88′) just to make the “you ain’t on our level” message super emphatic.
While it has been fun to think of the domination domestically, the tops of European football are far, far, far away from Celtic’s grasp after the opener.
That said, let’s take a look at the Good (don’t worry it has nothing to do with today’s game), the Bad and the Ugly of this matchup.
The Good
BARCELONA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 13: Supporters hold up the Catalan flag during the UEFA Champions League Group C match between FC Barcelona and Celtic FC at Camp Nou on September 13, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
When you get tossed around 7-0 on the road in a Champions League group stage game, there is no such thing as a good moment.
However, with the beginning of the UCL for Celtic it did mark the start of a remembrance of the Lisbon Lions. That’s right, the folks from Glasgow Celtic took home the first European Championship trophy for a British team some 50 years ago this season, hoisting the title in Lisbon, Portugal in a 2-1 victory over Inter Milan.
We’ll choose to celebrate those fine folks over anything that happened today. In fact, we’ll just tuck away this result and never speak of it again…or whatever our counselor tells us is the healthiest option.
But, here’s a big Hail, Hail to the Bhoys of ’67….all of them from Glasgow.
Here’s to you lads…Ronnie Simpson, Jim Craig, Tommy Gemmell, Bobby Murdoch, Billy McNeill (Captain), John Clark, Jimmy Johnstone, Willie Wallace, Stevie Chalmers, Bertie Auld, Bobby Lennox, and John Fallon.
The Bad
BARCELONA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 13: Neymar of Barcelona scores his sides third goal during the UEFA Champions League Group C match between FC Barcelona and Celtic FC at Camp Nou on September 13, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
It is hard not to pick on Celtic’s defense, especially with Rodgers attempting a more defensive look in the 4-1-4-1 formation this team came out in. That new look didn’t take long to be exposed, with Mikael Lustig inexplicably loosing Messi inside 20 yards of goal.
A quick feed to him and he hammered home an easy goal from about eight yards out in the third minute of action.
Then we saw the total futbol that Barca love to play on full display in Messi’s second of the day. It was Neymar dazzling to the outside, going give-and-go with Messi and allowing the Argentinian to just walk in his brace in the 27th minute.
From there it just got more and more embarrassing, as Neymar and Iniesta added some flare to a game that was never in doubt. Neymar made it 3-0 just five minutes in to the second half with a beautifully placed free kick, then hit a cross that was volleyed past Dorius De Vries for a 4-0 lead just a few minutes later to make this match a no-doubter.
Expecting Celtic to hold Barcelona scoreless was always a tough ask, but what happened to the defense overall was embarrassing and bad news in the so-called “group of death” for this year’s edition of the Champions League.
The Ugly
BARCELONA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 13: Moussa Dembele of Celtic is fouled by Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League Group C match between FC Barcelona and Celtic FC at Camp Nou on September 13, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Let’s just say there haven’t been many uglier scenarios than watching Moussa Dembele’s run up to his free kick in the first half. It was brutal to watch and resulted in Barca keeper Marc-André ter Steegen easily saving the penalty.
What could’ve been 1-1 was no longer, and Celtic were punished for not hammering home its opportunity just a few minutes later. It was Neymar and Co. toying with Celtic’s defense and setting up Messi to literally walk the ball across the Bhoys goal line.
From a possible 1-1 scenario to 2-0 down in a matter of minutes? It can’t get much worse than that moment, especially given Celtic’s lack of opportunity on the ball all game long. Celtic had just 25 percent of the possession in the first half alone and ended the game down 72 to 28 percent.
With the knowledge that you weren’t going to have many opportunities at extended possession, Celtic needed to capitalize on any and all opportunities it would have. Instead, Dembele coughed up what could’ve been a game-changing goal early in this contest.
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