Celtic’s heaviest ever European defeat, and it comes in the 50th anniversary season of their famous triumph in Lisbon. They were beaten by a much, much better side, clearly, but they gave Barcelona so much time and space, and the hosts just picked them off. Things might have been different had Dembélé not missed that first-half penalty, but their second-half display was basically rubbish.
Barcelona looked full of verve, though, and Neymar, Messi and Suarez were a joy to watch, as always. Thanks for reading – goodnight.
Updated
Full-time: Barcelona 7-0 Celtic
Mercifully, Ovidiu Haţegan brings proceedings to a close.
90 min Two additional minutes, which seems cruel. Here’s Simon McMahon: “Evening Tim. Imagine what Barcelona would do to Rangers. Celtic fans will just need to console themselves with that thought tonight.”
89 min It all came from another short corner. Again, Celtic switched off, Iniesta fed Messi, rampaging into the box, and Suarez got studs to Messi’s cross to poke home from about four yards. So easy.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 7-0 Celtic (Suarez 88)
But he can’t keep that one out! Suarez again, and this is humiliating for the visitors.
Updated
87 min Off the post from Messi! I think De Vries got a hand to it. That’s a seriously good save from the Celtic keeper.
85 min Pique hits a crossfield pass for Jordi Alba, but it’s too high, and it’s out of play.
More from Peter Oh: “If anyone is laughing at the comedy defending on display here, it certainly isn’t German-speaking Celtic fans. ‘Lustig’ means ‘amusing’, or ‘jolly’.”
84 min Messi is almost in for a seventh, but it just gets away from him, and De Vries is out to collect.
83 min Barcelona seem to have calmed down, and they’re happy to just keep possession.
80 min Celtic haven’t been that bad, but they’ve just been so passive. They’ve just allowed Barcelona to play. Even Scott Brown has looked uncharacteristically diffident.
79 min Is this Brendan Rodgers’ heaviest defeat as a manager?
78 min Well, last time they were here, three years ago, Celtic lost 6-1. It was their heaviest ever European defeat, but it looks like they’ll break that unwanted record tonight.
76 min Neymar had time and space in midfield, and he dropped an inch-perfect pass over Suarez’s shoulder. The No9 took one touch, swivelled, and buried a left-foot volley past De Vries. Great goal.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 6-0 Celtic (Suarez 75)
But he’s not now! And it was brilliant – and it’s six!
74 min Good defending from Touré to come across and take the ball off the toe of Suarez. The Uruguayan looks thoroughly cheesed off to still be without a goal.
72 min Neymar gets away from Lustig – where was Gamboa? – but can’t quite find a pass, and Celtic do enough to hustle it behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.
70 min Suarez tries to run in between Touré and Lustig, but he’s offside.
68 min Double change for Celtic: O’Connell and Armstrong on for Roberts and Sviatchenko.
Updated
67 min For a team that’s ostensibly been set up to defend, Celtic have allowed Barcelona so much room. They keep getting rinsed on the counter-attack! Messi and Neymar have been brilliant, but the defending has been flimsy in the extreme.
Updated
64 min Weirdly, Barcelona have only had six efforts on target. But the ease at which they’ve cut Celtic open has been startling.
62 min The volley from Iniesta for the fourth goal, by the way, was seriously good. Sixteen yards from goal, first time from a lovely cross from Neymar – he made it look so easy. De Vries had no chance. Nor did he with the fifth, to be honest.
61 min Touré tried to play offside, but it didn’t work. Messi ran clear, fed Suarez, and accepted the return pass to prod home from six yards. Celtic look a mess in defence.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 5-0 Celtic (Messi 60)
A hat-trick for the wonderful Messi, and this could become seriously damaging for Celtic.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 4-0 Celtic (Iniesta 59)
Oh what a goal! A lovely, lovely volley, and that’s 4-0. What a super hit from Neymar’s cross.
Updated
57 min Celtic are just so deep. Dembélé is in the centre circle when Barcelona have the ball, but his team-mates are yards him. It’s so hard for Celtic to get out of their own box.
56 min Brown is yellow-carded for a late tackle.
55 min Sinclair just breezed past Pique in the penalty area, but his cross was disappointing, and here come Barcelona on the counter-attack … but that’s a good tackle from Gamboa to dispossess Neymar.
54 min Busquets looks to play Messi through, but he’s offside – just.
51 min It’s seems gauche to be too critical, but De Vries got a solid palm to that free kick: he just couldn’t keep it out. It wasn’t right in the corner, either. In sum: he should have stopped it.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 3-0 Celtic (Neymar 50)
Neymar curls one into the top corner, and Barça lead 3-0! Should De Vries have saved that?
Updated
48 min Messi is tripped on the edge of the box, in a central position. Bitton was late, and this is a big chance.
47 min Celtic lining up as they did in the first half: with five at the back. Not that it helped them that much, mind you.
46 min We’re back, and Andres Iniesta replaces Ivan Rakitic, who was booked towards the end of the first half.
Justin Kavanagh writes: “Watching this, I think what David Moyes really meant the other day was that he was one Barcelona striker away from challenging for the Premier title at Everton. Speaking of which, your heart must go out to poor Brendan, who must be looking at that ‘beautiful man’ Suárez and thinking: ‘I used to coach that, and now look at me…’”
Here’s Peter Oh: “Hi Tim, Messi strikes twice within the first half hour? That’s what Rodgers gets for calling Suarez ‘the best striker in the world’ yesterday.”
A really entertaining half of football. Barcelona were energetic from the start, and were hugely dominant. Messi and Neymar have been excellent, but it could have been so different had Moussa Dembélé not missed that penalty. A good save from Ter Stegen, but that was a gift spurned. Plenty of work to do for Celtic in the second period.
Half-time: Barcelona 2-0 Celtic
Ovidiu Haţegan blows his whistle, and that’s the half.
43 min Oh, Messi shoots over the bar! Lovely turn and cross from Neymar on the left side, and Messi was free in the middle, but the ball just skipped up off the turf, and Messi couldn’t quite get his knee over it to control the shot.
Updated
41 min Sinclair has the ball in the net, but he’s just offside. Shame: that was a nice forward surge from Sinclair and Tierney. The latter in particular has done well this half.
39 min Rakitic trips Scott Brown, cynically, and is yellow carded. Brown is puce-faced and full of fume, and then Rakitic kicks the ball away from underneath Brown’s nose! No second yellow, but that was exceedingly dumb from the Croatian.
38 min Celtic have tried to stay compact in defence, with mixed results, but it means there’s so much space for Barcelona out wide. Jordi Alba in particular has seen a lot of the ball.
35 min Since Barcelona are so keen to press, there is space for Celtic on the break, if they can exploit it. But this one is coughed up, and Barça break at speed, but De Vries saves from Neymar! Good chance for the Brazilian, and he turned inside Lustig to fashion the chance, but De Vries saved well with his feet.
33 min Panic in the Celtic box, and it fell to Andre Gomes, but the visitors got defenders back to block. Corner, and Tierney clears it off the line! Rakitic with the effort, but Tierney did well.
31 min It’s tough at the top, eh? Dembélé did so well to win the penalty from a superb through ball from Scott Sinclair, but I wonder whether Ter Stegen psyched him out as the penalty was taken. Ter Stegen kept pointing to his left, and there was quite a hubbub before Dembélé actually took the kick. He went to the keeper’s right, Ter Stegen guessed correctly, and then 90 seconds later it was 2-0.
Updated
28 min You’ve got to feel for Celtic, but that was a superb goal. Messi and Neymar sliced through them, Neymar went round the keeper, and Messi tapped home from about five yards. Quite a picture as Messi wheeled away to celebrate: there were six Celtic defenders and the goalie in the six-yard box, but they just couldn’t do anything to stop it.
This could be a long night for the visitors.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Messi (27)
Oh, Celtic.
25 min It’s all happening. Celtic win the corner, but it’s too long from Sinclair, and Barcelona clear. What a chance for Celtic – but Dembélé couldn’t take it. It wasn’t the greatest penalty, if truth be told, and Ter Stegen plunged to his right to parry.
Updated
Penalty miss! Ter Stegen saves from Dembélé!
Oh no! Ter Stegen with the save!
Penalty to Celtic!
Amazing! Ter Stegen on Dembele! A clear trip, and a booking for the goalkeeper!
Updated
21 min On the touchline, Brendan Rodgers is doing his best to keep his side going, but they look a little forlorn at the moment. Barcelona have almost total control of the ball.
20 min Nice touch in midfield from Scott Brown, but Busquets wins it back, and Barcelona can build again. It’s been a tough opening 20 minutes for the Hoops.
18 min Suarez at the back post! Messi had time and space from the right side, and fizzed a cross beyond the entire Celtic defence, where Suarez was waiting – but he couldn’t turn it home! The angle was tight, admittedly, and he had to take it with his left foot. It flew up and over the bar. That cross from Messi was absolutely delicious.
Updated
16 min Oh, so close from Messi! He picked it up 30 yards from goal, nutmegged Bitton and bent a shot just wide! De Vries was struggling there.
14 min Celtic clear, and Roberts does well to hold it up and win a throw-in on halfway.
13 min Celtic finding it very difficult to get out from their own penalty box. Tierney concedes another corner.
12 min Bitton trips Sergio Busquets. Free kick, but no yellow card.
11 min First look for Celtic in attack, and Tierney swings it in from the left side, but Umtiti is there to clear safely.
9 min Just going back to the goal: it was a super finish from Messi, but Celtic just stopped concentrating after the initial corner. They tried to push out, but didn’t do it very well, and when the ball was played back in no one had picked Messi up. They were made to pay.
8 min Jordi Alba is down after taking a whack in the stomach, and we’ll have a short break, which Celtic could definitely use.
7 min Celtic are really under the cosh here. Barcelona are swarming all over them.
6 min Off his own post from Kolo Touré! Alba got in down the left side, cut it across to Suarez, and Touré, running back, hammered it against against the woodwork! Did the linesman’s flag go up for offside? Not sure, but that’s a let-off for Celtic.
4 min So disappointing from Celtic. Barça won a corner, and they took it short, but then Celtic switched off: Messi found himself free as the defence failed to move out in a line, and thumped a shot past De Vries high from a tight angle. It beat the goalkeeper for pace.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Celtic (Messi 3)
What a start from Barcelona, and what a goal from Messi. De Vries beaten inside three minutes.
2 min Pique is bundled into the advertising hoardings by Moussa Dembélé. No foul, but Pique looks to have hurt his arm.
Charles Antaki writes: “After Barça’s humiliation at the hands of the unknown Alavés, and Celtic’s triumph over the (still) well-known Rangers, this could be a tricky one for Luis Enrique, with a successful manager on show. Surely FCB is the right place to showcase Brendan Rogers’ talents?”
1 min And we’re off! A little late, perhaps? Barcelona in their traditional red and blue; Celtic in their classic green and white hoops.
About five minutes away from kick-off, and the Camp Nou pitch looks like a billiard table. The Baseball Ground circa 1972 it isn’t.
Here’s an arresting stat: Celtic’s away record in the Champions League is dreadful. Quiz question: where did the solitary victory arrive?
25 - Away from home in the Champions League, Celtic have lost 25 of their 27 games (W1 D1) and have never kept a clean sheet. Concern.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 13, 2016
Man City’s game with Mönchengladbach has been postponed. It’s been absolutely throwing it down, and the pitch isn’t fit. They’ll try again tomorrow.
11 - Barcelona have won their last 11 home Champions League games (29 goals scored, 6 conceded). Imperious.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 13, 2016
Luis Enrique is extending full respect to Brendan Rodgers:
“I like Rodgers as a coach; he likes to take the game to the opposition and you can see that already in his short time at Celtic,” the Barcelona coach said in the build-up to the match.
“He loves good football, he likes to take the burden of the initiative.
“They have made good signings and I’m worried about some of the Celtic players – Dembele, Sinclair, Roberts – they can give us problems. We will have to overcome high pressure and circulate the ball well.”
And Man City v Mönchengladbach here:
Don’t forget: we’ve got PSG v Arsenal here:
So Messi and Suarez come back for Barcelona – but Andres Iniesta starts on the bench. Scott Brown is fit to start, and Cristian Gamboa makes his Celtic debut in what could be a five-man defence.
Tonight's teams
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba, Rakitić, Busquets, André Gomes, Messi, Suárez, Neymar. Subs: Arda Turan, Iniesta, Rafinha, Cillessen, Mascherano, Alcácer, Digne.
Celtic: De Vries, Gamboa, Lustig, Touré, Sviatchenko, Tierney, Roberts, Brown, Biton, Sinclair, Dembélé. Subs: Gordon, Izaguirre, Armstrong, Rogic, O’Connell, McGregor, Forrest.
Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan (Romania)
Hello and welcome
Celtic are back in the Champions League for the first time in three years – and they’re back at the scene of their previous crime. In December 2013, the Bhoys lost 6-1 to Barcelona at Camp Nou in their final match in Group H, a scoreline that represented their heaviest European defeat and meant they finished bottom with a paltry three points.
Much has changed in three years. Brendan Rodgers has swapped Anfield for Parkhead, and just three players who started in that 1-6 reversal are likely to start tonight. But it’s been a good late summer for the Hoops: they’re top of the Scottish Premiership, having won all four games this season, and visit the Catalan capital fresh from a 5-1 humiliation of Rangers on Saturday. Barca, meanwhile, have one or two issues to address after the shock 2-1 home defeat by Alaves, but they’re bolstered by the return of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta, who were rested on Sunday and only appeared as second-half substitutes.
It’ll take something special for Celtic to go through in what looks to be the toughest of all the groups, but they’re no pushovers, and Barça, Man City and Mönchengladbach might not have it all their own way. Kick-off this evening, as always, is 8.45pm in Barcelona, 7.45pm in London, and 2.45pm in New York. Join us then!
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why Monaco’s chairman is lobbying against the “prototype of a Super League”:
Uefa announced the reform of the Champions League in August but the details will not be rubberstamped until December. The plan is that, from 2018 to 2021, the most powerful clubs will receive more money – 49% more – from the tournament and more guaranteed places in the group stage.
Each of the four highest-ranked domestic leagues – which are currently those of Spain, England, Germany and Italy – will be guaranteed four automatic places in the group stages, sparing teams who finish fourth in those leagues from having to contest play-offs. That will leave only 16 group spots for representatives of the continent’s other 51 national leagues, although a club from one of the big leagues could take one of those spots, too, by winning the Europa League.
“We need more big clubs from big countries in this competition to make it more interesting and more passionate,” Vasilyev said. “I think that in recent years the value of the group stage has been diluted. Clearly a reform was needed to bring back the value of the competition in the eyes of all people who love football. That’s where I agree fully with the strategy. But where I don’t agree is that the gap between Italy and France cannot be tolerated. It’s simply too much. France should have three automatic places; that would be correct.”
