3 Things We Learned: Celtic FC vs FC Barcelona

Barcelona secured first place in the group with a 2-0 win over Celtic, and thanks in part due to Manchester City failing to win.

Midfield Battle

The midfield was the key battleground, and Barcelona’s control of it was a major factor behind the result. Early on in the match, Celtic tried to apply heavy pressure in the middle to disrupt Barça’s passing from the back. This basically ended up being an individual battle between Sergio Busquets and Scott Brown. Busquets came out ahead, as he usually does, and dominated the tempo of the match. Therefore, opening up the passing lanes to the front three which gave them the necessary chances to break open the Celtic defense. However, this didn’t stop Celtic from having chances due to the suicidal defending at times from Barcelona.

The reassuring presence of Busquets was important because André Gomes still doesn’t seem to fully understand the defensive side of his role. Also, Ivan Rakitić deserves a mention due to his underappreciated, tireless work rate for the team.

As mentioned previously, there was some poor decision-making from the Barcelona defense, mainly Sergi Roberto. The fact that their system relies on the play starting at the back in order to stretch the other team does come with added risk. There is a higher chance that the other team will regain possession high up the pitch. Nonetheless, some of it could have been avoided because the passing was sloppy at times. An example of this was when Roberto took a free-kick which he hit high across the defense, and this was easily intercepted by Callum McGregor who should have scored. This kind of sloppy play needs to be cut out against better teams.

The saving grace for Roberto is that mistakes should be expected from him because he is still getting acclimated to a foreign role. On a separate note, it’s nice to see that Javier Mascherano finally seems to be finding top form after a poor start to the season. This could be key for Barcelona’s season, and it gives Luis Enrique more tactical flexibility if he knows he can rely on the Argentinian.

Messi Floats

Just like a ghost, Messi floated around and scared the opposition defense half to death. This didn’t mean he disappeared from the match, though. His refusal to stay in a rigid position made life hard for Celtic, as it does for most teams. He was the difference maker in the game with his two goals clearly representing this. For the first goal, he made a well-timed run in to the box, and finished beautifully after a wonderful pass from Neymar. Then for his second, he calmly dispatched a penalty straight down the middle. He could easily have scored a third after beating his man, but his shot just went wide of the post.

Throughout the match, he was a constant threat with his excellent dribbling, and wide array of passing. Not forgetting his shooting of course, and his intricate link up play which Celtic struggled to deal with. He certainly seems to be on top form at the minute, lets hope it continues.