The week that was: European Adventure

2. Celtic 0-1 Barcelona:

Messi Impressionist

If I were a cliched sports headline write I would start with something like, “Brave Celtic go down fighting to Feigning/Cheating Barcelona” or “Celtic fail to smite Cheating Barca” or “Misery in Glasgow as bravery goes unrewarded” or… you get the gist.

Except I’m not so I will say on the outset, whatever you make of Neymar‘s simulation skills (and they are considerable) that kick (or attempted kick) was a RED card. No question about it.

A Messi-less Barca is the best Barca you want to be playing against (that is, if you have to play against them). Celtic employed the same “brave” tactics (euphemism for “We’re shit with the ball and We know it”) and almost got away with it. Except this time they forget to score. A minor detail but which proved important later on as Fabregas invoked the spirit of Pulis and snatched a victory for Barcelona. Fabregas may not be the kind of fan favorite at Barca as he was at Arsenal, but he’s probably the only player they have than can do a passable impression of Messi in the False 9 role.

Celtic were even more withdrawn than the last time around when they had run out surprise 1-0 victors in the same fixture. They missed Wanyama? Maybe. But what we witnessed was a very very one-sided match in which Barca ultimately resorted to route 1 football to win. (Pep must have shed a tear).

Highlights