How the Barcelona players rated:
MARC-ANDRE TER STEGEN: Celtic harried him at every pass back but the German rarely looked flustered, switching the ball from foot to foot until a pass became available. Decent first-half save from Moussa Dembele, too, then easy grab from same man’s header after the break. 7
SERGI ROBERTO: The man given the unenviable task of filling Dani Alves’ boots this season strolled through the game, rarely giving Sinclair and then James Forrest a sniff, although one clumsy tackle on the latter did earn him a booking. 6
JAVIER MASCHERANO: Not the tallest centre half but doesn’t need to be given how well he reads the game and the accuracy of his distribution. One first-half sliding block on Dembele was timed to perfection. 7
Read more: Celtic v Barcelona: Celtic player ratings
GERARD PIQUE: A defender so composed he even made one pass while sitting on his backside, although not averse to hoofing it long when no obvious short option presented itself. 7
JORDI ALBA: Snuffed out the threat of Callum McGregor and regularly hared forward in attack himself, one first-half cross squirted wide by Lionel Messi. Booked in the first half for a crude challenge on Sinclair. 6
IVAN RAKITIC: Terrific energy and stamina to charge up and down almost like an old-fashioned inside-right. One powerful first-half header almost led to a Barcelona goal. Booked late on. 6
SERGIO BUSQUETS: On the wrong end of an early Scott Brown reducer but recovered to provide his almost customised extra layer of protection in front of the Barcelona defence. 7
ANDRE GOMES: Slotted in beside Busquets to do the unflashy stuff that largely involved trailing Celtic midfielders around the field like a night watchman keeping an eye on a group of loitering teenagers. 6
LIONEL MESSI: Could he do it on a freezing Wednesday night in Glasgow? Does Donald Trump like a sunbed? Supposedly below his best after recovering from a sickness bug, the little Argentinean again showed why he is the best player in the world. Scored the first goal of the game with a drilled low finish at Craig Gordon’s near post and added a second from the spot. One nonchalant pass from his own half plopped onto Neymar’s foot as if he had ran up and placed it there himself. Work-rate terrific, too. 9
LUIS SUAREZ: The quietest of the MSN trio on the night but only a tremendous save from Craig Gordon denied the former Liverpool man a headed first-half goal. Won Barcelona’s penalty in the second half then missed a late sitter. 7
Read more: Celtic v Barcelona: Celtic player ratings
NEYMAR: The threat of possible two-year prison sentence initially seemed to have had little effect on the Brazilian as he breezed through the game before getting embroiled in a second-half spat with Mikael Lustig, picking up a booking and then lucky not to get a second for the time it took him to leave the field when substituted. 7
Subs:
LUCAS DIGNE (for Alba 66): Like for like swap at left-back.
MARLON (for Pique 72): Shored it up at the back.
ARDA TURAN (for Neymar 77): On, eventually, for a petulant Neymar.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here