Celtic 0 - 2 Barcelona: Champions League match report, goals

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Full time: Celtic 0-2 Barcelona

Two Lionel Messi goals is all it would take to undo Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side in Wednesday's Champions League Group C clash. Celtic showed themselves to be competent competitors but never really tested Barcelona's back line.

Barcelona will now finish top of their group thanks to a 1-1 draw between Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach. 

Celtic take the lead

An ice-cool Neymar pass to Messi would help to open the scoring before the Argentine slotted home with his left foot in the first half. 

Despite Celtic remaining in the game, Barcelona gave themselves a 0-2 lead when Emilio pulled down Suarez, who used all of his veteran skills to earn the whistle. Lionel Messi stepped up and prodded the ball home to put the game out of reach of the Celts. 

Moussa Dembele looked lively throughout but other than a header that was easily saved by Ter Stegen in the 53 minutes, the Celtic side looked flat up front.

The game threatened to spill into the nasty category when Neymar collided with Lustig and the pair were booked befor Naymer caught the right-back with a late tackle just moments later but Luis Enrique took off the Brazilian before things could escalate.

The game petered out as Celtic failed to put any more pressure on Barcelona and now look like they will finish last in the group having amassed a measly two points in five games.

Celtic 0-2 Barcelona: Second half

Min 90+2 | Dembele with a late penalty shout but the referee waves it away as the Celtic striker appears to have just slipped despite pressure from Marlon.

Min 90 | Suarez catches Lustig, who appears to have twisted his ankle. Celtic have made their three subs so he carries on.

Min 88 | Rakitic booked for a tactical foul on Forrest as he pulls down the Scot as he attempts to start a counter-attack.

Min 86 | Celtic appear to have run out of ideas. No sign of them scoring as Barcelona look to kill the game.

Min 84 | Messi with a typical Messi-like run before putting Suarez through but Barcelona's number nine hits the post with his effort.

Min 83 | Scott Brown with a late and high tackle on Messi. The Scot avoids a booking though.

Min 82 | Messi aims a long pass for Suarez but it is too short.

Plenty of intensity still in this game but the worry for Celtic is that they still don't look like scoring.

Min 78 | Sergi Roberto breaks out from the back before feeding Messi, who repays the favour, but the right-back can not get his cross beyond the first Celtic defender. Corner Barcelona.

Substitution Barcelona - Neymar is replaced by Arda Turan. Lustig ushers him off as the Brazilian takes his time to take his shinpads off before strolling off the field.

Min 75 | Gomes fouls Brown as this game gets a little chippy. Plenty of eyes on the ref now to keep control of this.

Substitution Barcelona - Gerard Pique has been replaced by Marlon.

Min 73 | Neymar has another nibble at Lustig's ankles but the referee allows play to continue. Celtic fans not happy but Neymar laughs it off.

Substitution Celtic - McGregor is taken off for Patrick Roberts.

Min 70 | Lustig is bundled out of the way by Neymar off the ball. Both players are booked but it certainly looked a little unnecessary from the Brazilian.

The Glasgow Celtic fans have been in fine fettle all evening despite their side trailing 0-2. They are in full voice with 20 minutes remaining.

Min 67 | Neymar with a probing run before feeding the ball to Messi but the Argentine drags his shot just wide.

Substitution Barcelona - Jordie Alba is replaced by Lucas Digne.

Min 65 | The ensuing free-kick is met by Dembele's head but not before he catches Pique's head and the Barcelona centre-half is down with a head injury. He seems okay to continue though.

Substitution Celtic - Tom Rogic vomes off and is replaced by Nir Britton.

Min 63 | Forrest goes around Roberto and is taken down. Yellow for the Barcelona right-back and a free to Celtic in a dangerous position.

Min 62 | Sviatchenko, who is already booked, gets involved in some argy-bargy with Neymar and Alba. The referee gets involved and calms things down but Neymar still not happy.

Min 57 | Suarez pokes a shot that hits the post but the Uruguyuan was ruled offside. Barcelona continue to look dangerous here!

Min 56 | GOAL! Not the greatest penalty you will ever see but Messi dribbles it past Gordon to give Barcelona a two goal lead.

Min 55 | Emilio Izaguirre gets tangled up with Luis Suarez and the referee awards the visitors a penalty.

Min 53 | The best chance of the game for Celtic. Dembele headers a McGregor cross into Ter Stegen's path though.

Min 50 | Forrest again but this time McGregor is ruled offside as the substitute's shot is deflected.

Min 49 | James Forrest tests Ter Stegen as Celtic take advantage of sloppy play by Sergi Roberto. His left-footed shot is saved easily by the German though.

Min 48 | Rakitic is taken down by Emilio on the sideline.

Celtic substitution - James Forrest replaces Scott Sinclair

Min 46 | We are underway for the second half at Celtic Park.

Half-time: Celtic 0-1 Barcelona

A cagey Celtic were undone by a Lionel Messi strike despite giving a good account of themselves in the opening half of their Champions League Group C clash. The hosts looked to defend deep from the start but were forced out of their shell in the 24th minute when Messi slotted home a lovely pass by Neymar to give Barcelona the lead.

Barcelona could have made it two just before the half-time whistle but Luis Suarez' header was turned away by Craig Gordon in Celtic's goal. Celtic have done well but have failed to create any clear cut chances and will want to rectify that if they are to draw themselves level with Luis Enrique's side 

Celtic 0-1 Barcelona: First half

Min 45 + 1 | Half-time as Celtic Park. A Lionel Messi goal separates the sides.

Min 44 | Scott Brown on a fine line now as he fouls Busquets just moments after he catches Messi with an errant arm.

Min 41 | What a save by Gordon as he denies Suarez with a header from point blank range. Jordi Alba booked for a foul on Sinclair on the ensuing break.

Min 39 | Celtic break again but Mascherano steals the ball of Dembele, who is looking particularly lively!

Min 37 | Dembele out on the left, forces a save from Ter Stegen as he tries to bend a right-footed shot around the German. That move seems to have reignited the Celtic fans too as they break into song.

Min 36 | Neymar takes advantage of a Celtic mistake but he tries to play Suarez in instead of going for goal himself and Celtic intervene. 

Min 34 | Suarez makes a dart into Celtic's penalty area and is me with contact. He doesn't go down but he might have had a penalty if he did. Too honest?

Min 32 | Suarez feels like he should have a free as he goes down grabbing his face. He was met by Izaguirre but replays show there was no contact.

Min 30 | Lustig taken down by Alba as Celtic look for a free but the ref is not having it. Celtic starting to gain some control on the game now.

Min 28 | Barcelona trying to grab control of the game again but Celtic pressing more now. Foul on Scott Brown gives them a free in the middle of the park.

Min 24 | GOAL! It's that man Messi yet again. He slots it past Gordon at the near post after a lovely pass by Neymar. 

Min 23 | Sviatchenko booked for hauling Messi back as Barcelona try to build another attack.

Min 22 | A Neymar corner is met by Andre Gomes' heel as he tries to direct it towards goal but Celtic clear for another corner. 

Min 21 | Foul by Gomes on Armstrong in the middle of the field. Celtic are holding their own thus far.

Min 19 | Alba lofts a cross that is met by the head of Rakitic but the Croatian hits it wide.

Min 16 | Messi links up with Jorid Alba but the Argentine drags his shot wide of the post.

A very audible version of "The Fields of Athenry" rings out around Parkhead.

Min 11 | Scott Brown with a through ball to Dembele but the French striker is ruled offside.

Neymar getting on plenty of ball in the first ten minutes. Might prove worrying for Celtic.

Min 8 | A shot by Messi is deflected up to Suarez but he can't get his head to it. Mix-up by Celtic but it is eventually cleared.

Min 7 | Sinclair chips a ball towards Dembele but Barcelona manage to get it out for a corner. Celtic growing into the game now.

Min 4 | Celtic looking to sit back and beat Barcelona on the counter based on the opening exchanges. This could be a long night for Celtic and their fans.

Min 2 | Messi involved early on but his dispossession met with a great cheer from the Celtic faithful.

Min 1 | We are underway in Parkhead!

Celtic - Barcelona: latest news

20:28 | Here's the full story on tonight's team news...

20:12 | The race between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to land 100 goals in the Champions League continues tonight. Messi with a 7-2 lead this season but still five behind Ronaldo.

20:04 | Barcelona fans may be allowing themselves a teensy-weensy spot of schadenfreude at this piece of news concerning a certain not terribly popular ex-Blaugrana...

19:54 | Ahead of kick-off at Celtic Park, why not have a cheeky shufties at this Barcelona prospect who's being dubbed the 'new Iniesta'?

19:40 | Meanwhile, Rodgers goes with Sinclair and Dembele to lead the line in the absence of Leigh Griffiths.

19:37 | MSN is back. After struggling to break down Malaga without Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Luis Enrique has the luxury of picking two of his better players for their clash in Glasgow tonight.

19:31 | For all of our Barcelona fans tuning in, catch up on news of Gareth Bale's ankle injury that will keep him out of El Clasico.

19:07 | A quick look at the temperature in Glasgow and it is a nippy -1.

18:59 | If you haven't seen the bizarre question about the Loch Ness monster, you can check it out here. 

18:21 | With just under two and a half hours to go until kick-off, here's all the info on how and where to watch tonight's Champions League clash.

17:00 | Meanwhile, in Clásico related news, Real Madrid's injury woes continue apace as Gareth Bale has been ruled out of the match at Camp Nou after picking up an ankle injury in the victory over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night.

16: 30 | José Mourinho has said during his pre-match press conference ahead of Manchester United's match against Feyenoord that he hopes Messi retires at Barcelona: "Lionel Messi is every season the same story, every season he is going to leave and he never does. I hope he never leaves. He belongs to Barcelona, the beautiful thing for him would be to start and finish at Barça."

16:00 | Celtic were thrashed 7-0 in the reverse fixture in Camp Nou and Rodgers will be hoping for a scoreline more similar to the Champions League fixture between the sides in Glasgow in 2012, which ended 2-1 to Celtic.

15:30 | And the wee man has been passed fit, with his coach Luis Enrique saying before the match that it would take something pretty serious to keep Messi off the pitch.

15:00 | Leo Messi is on 90 goals in the Champions League compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's 95 as the pair strive to become the first centurions in Europe's elite club competition. Will the Argentinean onion-bag botherer par excellence add to his tally against the Bhoys? 

14:25 | Not good news off the field for Barça as the Neymar case drags on.

13:30 | Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers was forced to field one of the more bizarre questions during his tenure as football manager involving Lionel Messi and the Loch Ness monster.  

13:00 | A huge game in store at Celtic Park this evening, here's what Luis Enrique had to say ahead of the clash.

Celtic - Barcelona: match preview 

The Champions League returns to Parkhead in a must win game for the home side with three points vital to keep any hopes of qualifying from Group C alive. Barcelona too cannot sit on their laurels despite currently topping the group table as a slip-up from Luis Enrique's side coupled with a victory for Manchester City in Germany could compromise the Catalan club's attempt to finish top of the group and at least (on paper) face a easier passage in the round of 16.

Celtic

'Hoops' coach Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that the combination of a big Parkhead European football night, one of the most passionate support groups in world football and the glamorous visit of current LaLiga champions, FCBarcelona will be the perfect cocktail for a heroic performance from his Celtic side who have yet to throw in the towel in the 2016/17 Champions League.

The 'Bhoys' will be aware that a win over the Catalan giants keeps their hopes very much intact going into the last Group C game at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester to face Guardiola's City, however a loss tonight could be the end of the line European football-wise for Celtic and indeed extinguish any vague hopes of securing a third and subsequent Europa League place.

Memories of the famous 2-1 win over Barça in November 2012 have been much cited in the build up to tonight's match with the Northern Irish coach Rodgers being able to count on a full strength team coming into the game. The Celts will look to young French striker Moussa Dembélé who is the main danger man for the home side having already bagged five European goals for Celtic this season so far.

The good news for Barça coach Luis Enrique is that Lionel Messi is back. The Catalan side clearly struggled without the mecurial Argentine player last Saturday as they struggled to break down a resilient Malaga side and could only manage a 0-0 Camp Nou draw against the Costa del Sol based outfit.

More positive squad news for the Asturian coach comes with the news that Gerard Pique who failed to train on Monday is also available after training normally at Celtic Park with the 29 yeal old is unquestionably one of Barça's key players at present. Andres Iniesta and Mathieu both long-term absentees through injury are the only key players missing for a Barcelona team who will be also paying attention to events at Borussia Park as Manchester City face Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach.

Ivan Rakitic and Neymar will both need to watch their step as both players are just one card away from a suspension that would see them miss the next potentially crucial game. Luis Enrique however will be hoping that his side can do their homework tonight in Glasgow and thus avoid the added pressure of a critical Champions League game on December 6, just three days after El Clasico at Camp Nou on December 3rd.

Coach: Brendan Rodgers

Coach: Luis Enrique

Celtic - Barcelona: live match build up