Barcelona 7 Celtic 0: Messi and Suarez dazzle, Umtiti solid at the back and other talking points

Barcelona handed Celtic a footballing lesson as the Blaugranes lit up the Nou Camp beating the Scottish champions by a scoreline of 7-0.

Barcelona met Celtic in the first match of the 2016-17 Champions League group stages and handed the Scottish champions a footballing lesson at Nou Camp.

The Blaugranes’ superstars ran riot as they pumped in 7 goals past the Celtic defence. Mousa Dembele had his penalty saved early in the first half and Celtic could never really recover from that and mount any sort of attack.

We take a look at a few talking points from the game:

1. MSN show their predatory instincts after Alaves debacle – prove form is temporary, class is permanent

The Alaves game highlighted the lack of impact the trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar had on the game but the fixture against Celtic saw the trio return to form and how. The trio destroyed their opposition, who came into the game with good morale.

Messi scored a hattrick, Suarez a brace and Neymar scored one as the three scored 6 of the 7 goals in the game, while they were directly involved in all of the 7 goals. Almost every other chance created in the game was also thanks to ‘MSN’ as Barcelona could well have had more goals and players on the scoresheet.

2. Marc-Andre ter Stegen commands his presence in Barcelona goal

Much was talked about Claudio Bravo’s move to Manchester City but Marc-Andre ter Stegen seems to have elevated his level of performance. The player was not in goal against Alaves in their shock defeat, but against Celtic, showed once again why he is so highly regarded in Germany.

Although the former Gladbach keeper did not have much to do, he did his job with minimal cause for worry and provided a highlight, as he brilliantly saved a penalty struck by Celtic’s Mousa Dembele.

The player has been sounding out Luis Enrique and the hierarchy over an extended role in the first-team squad and if he continues giving performances like the one against Celtic, he may just be rewarded by the Barcelona manager.

3. Samuel Umtiti stakes starter claims

Barcelona’s defensive frailties were highlighted against Alaves, and Celtic were also expected to trouble the Blaugranes’ defensively fragile squad. But the pairing of Umtiti and Pique absolutely mopped up everything that came their way with Umtiti impressing the home crowd with his defensive effort.

Luis Enrique would prefer the presence of two natural centre-backs in Pique and Umtiti over the likes of Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu, as Umtiti provides the defence with the much-needed muscle and defensive awareness that has been missing since Puyol retired.

4. Barcelona must open contract talks soon with a flexible Luis Enrique

The Barcelona manager made several changes before the Alaves game and was grilled by the media for resting too many key stars at once, as they fell to a shock defeat to Alaves. Enrique, though, seems to have learned as he started with the magnificent trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar upfront while he brought back Pique and deployed Umtiti as his defensive pairing.

Luis Enrique’s adaptability has been one of the main reasons of Barcelona’s success under their former player and against Celtic, he showed it again. His flexibility makes him one of the best managers in the footballing world and seeing as his contract is up for renewal at the end of the season, Barcelona’s hierarchy must open contract talks with Enrique if they are to secure the future of Enrique at Nou Camp.

5. Celtic and Rodgers provided a harsh awakening

Celtic came into the game on the back of a thrashing of arch-rivals Rangers in the Old Firm derby and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, along with star striker Mousa Dembele, who scored a hat-trick in the derby, sounded out potential of an upset as they traveled to Nou Camp for their Champions League group stage match against Barcelona.

However, they were absolutely dismantled by the Barcelona lineup as Rodgers and his players woke up to realise the wide gap between the two teams on the level of squad depth and quality of playing style at the moment.