Barcelona hammered a hapless Celta Vigo side 5-0 at the Camp Nou and were ruthless at the back and even more so up front. The Catalan side delighted their home fans with a dazzling display of complete attacking football as Lionel Messi ran riot on the night.
Celta Vigo imploded after Messi’s opening goal and they had no answer to Barcelona’s movement. The away side could do nothing stop the Blaugrana from hitting the back of the net five times.
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Here are the player ratings.
Barcelona
Marc-André Ter Stegen – 6.5/10
The German goalkeeper had very little to do in the game and made routine stops in the 17th minute to stop Mallo and in the 53rd minute to safely collect from Guidetti. He was a spectator for large spells of the game but still managed a clean sheet.
Sergi Roberto – 6.5/10
Sergi Roberto was rarely troubled by Bongonda on his flank and the Catalan player made a few good runs going forward like in the 10th minute and 50th minute. However, he was brought off for Iniesta in the 67th minute.
Gerard Pique – 7/10
Pique had a solid game at the back for Barcelona and was good in the air. He marshalled the back line and rarely put a foot wrong in the game except being beaten by Aspas in the 84th minute. He kept the pressure on Celta by instructing the team to play higher up the pitch as Barcelona camped in Celta’s half in the second forty-five minutes.
Samuel Umtiti – 7.5/10
Umtiti was the standout defender for Barcelona. He bossed Aspas and Guidetti in the game and left the Swede with nothing to show for after beating him to the ball every single time. He was strong in the air and even got his first ever league goal for Barcelona after getting ahead of Pique and hitting the back of the net from a Messi low cross in the 61st minute.
Jordi Alba – 6.5/10
Jordi Alba did a good job covering at the back for Barcelona with his pace. He made good tackles in the 29th and 84th minute to stop Guidetti and Aspas respectively and helped in keeping a clean sheet for his side.
Rafinha – 7/10
Rafina was a welcome energetic presence on Barcelona’s right flank but he was not clinical in the final third after getting into good positions. He took a shot that was deflected over the bar in the 27th minute and left Jonny for dead in the 35th minute but his final ball was lacking. He assisted Rakitic rather fortunately after a bad touch, for Barcelona’s third goal in the 57th minute as well.
Sergio Busquets – 8/10
Busquets was Barcelona’s standout player in midfield and if not for Messi’s magical performance, would have been man of the match. He made an astounding 15 interceptions in the game and negated Celta’s midfielders entirely. He was energetic and ever-present for Barcelona until he was brought off in the 61st minute for Mascherano
Ivan Rakitic – 7.5/10
Rakitic provided a lot of energy and good distribution from midfield for Barcelona. He was involved in the Neymar’s goal and even scored the third goal for his side on the night after Messi’s pass came off Rafinha in the 57th minute. However, he was clearly offside for the goal.
Lionel Messi – 9.5/10
Magical. Genius. Brilliant. These are a few words that could be used to describe Messi’s performance on the night. He scored the opener which was the best goal of the game after receiving the ball and turning with speed, leaving Celta’s players for dead before slotting it in the left-hand bottom corner in the 24th minute.
Then he assisted Neymar for the second goal with a perfectly weighted pass in the 40th minute. He was instrumental in the third goal by playing the ball in the box for Rafinha which Rakitic finished in the 57th minute. He then provided a great assist to Umtiti for Barcelona’s fourth goal in the 61st minute and then wrapped up the game in the 64th minute with a classic solo effort after cutting in from the right flank and finishing to the right bottom corner.
He was at the centre of everything for Barcelona and he looked to be back to his mesmerising best against Celta. He would’ve surely got a 10/10 rating had he scored a hat-trick but ended the game with 2 goals and 2 assists.
Luis Suarez – 6/10
Suarez had a quiet game after hitting the post early on in the 20th minute. Messi ran the show and Suarez was happy to just drag defenders out of position.
Neymar – 7.5/10
Neymar was the most fouled player in the game. He dribbled brilliantly and kept the Celta defence on their toes throughout the game from the left flank. He got on the scoresheet with a neat chipped finish after Messi played him through in the 40th minute and combined well with the Argentine star. Celta Vigo had no answer to him cutting in and running at them. Substitutes
Javier Mascherano – 6/10
Mascherano came on for Busquets in the 61st minute and gave an assured performance shielding the back line.
Andres Iniesta – 6/10
Iniesta came on in the 67th minute for Sergi Roberto and kept his side ticking as always.
Denis Suarez – 6/10
Denis Suarez was brought on for Neymar in the 70th minute and had a few chances late in the game in the 82nd and 90th minute but couldn’t finish.
Celta Vigo
Sergio Alvarez – 4/10
The Celta goalkeeper was kept extremely busy by Barcelona in the game and could do nothing for all the five goals scored against him. His goal was under fire for almost the whole game but he could not prevent the emphatic score line. He could have perhaps stopped the fifth goal as Messi’s shot was at his near post, but apart from that, he was just a bystander.
Hugo Mallo – 4.5/10
Mallo was troubled by Neymar all night and simply could not contain the Brazilian at all in the game. He had a chance going forward in the 17th minute but it was a tame effort for Ter Stegen to deal with. He escaped a booking in the 23rd minute after fouling Neymar and put in a cross which Umtiti cleared in the 29th minute.
The Celta captain could not prove decisive in the final third had no answer to Neymar while defending from then on.
Gustavo Cabral – 4/10
Cabral had a very poor game at centre-back against Barcelona’s attack and his positioning was terrible for all the goals. He was beaten completely by Neymar in the 15th minute and then got nutmegged by Suarez in the 20th minute but the Uruguayan hit the crossbar.
However, he did contain Suarez later in the game. He got booked for a foul on the Uruguay international in the 36th minute and made a good clearance in the 66th minute.
Sergi Gomez – 4/10
Gomez made a few good last-ditch tackles and clearances in the game like in the 8th minute, 50th minute and the 76th minute. However, he was at fault for letting Neymar ghost in and score in the 40th minute.
He could not stay tight on the Barcelona attack and got booked for fouling Neymar in the 49th minute. He was completely overrun in the heart of Celta’s defence along with Cabral.
Jonny Castro – 5/10
Jonny was largely missing in the game going forward for Celta but at the back, he was perhaps better than the rest of the defence. He made a good clearance in the 12th minute to stop Neymar’s cross but was troubled by Rafina in the game. He even slipped in the 35th minute as the Barcelona right back went past him.
Facundo Roncaglia – 5/10
Roncaglia looked tenacious and up for the game initially after putting himself about in the first 10 minutes but slowly faded as the game wore on. He took a shot that went narrowly wide in the 22nd minute but he was completely beaten by Lionel Messi for the opening goal in the 24th minute. He could not help his teammates defend well enough as the game progressed.
Nemanja Radoja – 4/10
Radoja went missing in the game as he could exert no influence in the middle of the park. He could barely get the ball or shield the Celta defence in the game and his only contribution was a yellow card for a foul on Neymar in the 38th minute.
Daniel Wass – 4/10
Wass could not conjure up anything worthwhile going forward but put in a good free-kick that caused problems in the 22nd minute and had a shot in the 66th minute that went close. He was taken off soon after in the 68th minute.
Theo Bongonda – 3/10
Bongonda was one of the worst players on the pitch on the night. His runs led to nothing and his passing was wasteful. He was at fault for losing the ball for Barcelona’s second goal and was then taken off in the 51st minute.
John Guidetti – 3.5/10
Guidetti was second best against Umtiti all game and was bossed by the Barcelona defender. He kept losing the ball on numerous occasions and failed to control the ball properly repeatedly. He was the biggest disappointment for Celta Vigo and was rightly brought off in the 62nd minute.
Iago Aspas – 6/10
Aspas was Celta’s best player in the game but was severely let down by his teammates. He played bravely and created all of Celta’s half-chances against an in-form Barcelona back line. He put in crosses in the 17th minute, 29th minute and 38th minute but his teammates could not convert. Guidetti was poor in supporting Aspas in the game but the striker caused slight problems for Barcelona.
Substitutes
Jozabed – 4/10
Jozabed came on for the struggling Guidetti in the 62nd minute and tried to provide some impetus in attack but it amounted to nothing.
Pione Sisto – 4/10
Sisto came on for the poor Bongonda in the 51st minute and fared much better than the Belgian. But his side conceded three goals after he was brought on. However, he could have been started by his manager.
Marcelo Diaz – 4/10
Marcelo Diaz came on Wass in the 68th minute and he livened up the midfield but it was a bit too late for Celta.
