Celtic were already up against it.
As if keeping Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez quiet wasn’t already difficult enough, Neymar was returning to Barcelona’s starting lineup following his Olympic heroics over in Brazil.
It didn’t even take three minutes for Barca to pick Celtic’s defensive lock. Messi opened the scoring, and Brendan Rodgers would’ve been fearing the worst.
To their credit, Celtic didn’t cave in instantly. They even had the chance to draw level from a penalty, only for Marc-Andre ter Stegen to deny Moussa Dembele.
Messi went on to double Barca’s lead before the break, and to make matters worse, the home side sent on Andres Iniesta at the break.
After a free-kick from Neymar put Barcelona three up, the Spanish midfielder got the Catalonian’s fourth in spectacular fashion, volleying home from the edge of the area.
https://twitter.com/i_wasted_time/status/775790705126105088
It wasn’t the end of the Barca scoring, either. Messi completed his hat-trick a minute later, and Luis Suarez finally got in on the act with 15 minutes of time left to play before adding another one at the death.
A rough night for Celtic, but when Barcelona are in this kind of mood, there’s very little anyone can do about it. They’ll surely go close to winning another European Cup this season if this performances is anything to go by.
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