Celtic 0 Barcelona 1: It is a stern enough test to face Barcelona with 11 men, let alone 10. Celtic discovered that to their cost. Anger was the overwhelming emotion in Glasgow's east end after a sending off for the captain, Scott Brown, proved the defining moment of an otherwise taut encounter.
Brown’s departure just before the hour mark was sufficient to give Barcelona the impetus they needed to secure victory by a single goal. It was a success they barely merited from a match that regressed into the realms of the bad-tempered for the final 30 minutes.
It is widely recognised that this Barcelona team can do things as routine that others cannot. Sergio Busquets looked to emphasise that point by producing two drag-backs within 20 seconds of kick-off. It took one minute and 45 seconds for a Celtic player to touch the ball; and that a blocked tackle.
Shockwaves
Last November's win over Barca here created shockwaves all over Europe while earning Neil Lennon and his players the kind of glowing recognition that could never arrive on account of dominance in Scotland. In itself, that was a nod towards the brilliance of the modern-day Barcelona.
The ominous flipside to the events of last season for the home side was Barcelona could therefore be forewarned and forearmed for their latest visit.
Gerardo Martino’s team have won their opening seven La Liga matches in creating a club record; Lionel Messi was missing for this Group H tie but a front three of Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Neymar looked a seriously potent antidote to that.
The opening half was noticeably low on clear-cut chances, in itself a credit to Celtic. That much apparently frustrated Neymar, with the Brazilian fortunate to escape without a booking for throwing himself to the ground, 20 yards from the Celtic goal, after 25 minutes.
Narrowly wide
Neymar was the first to be offered a glimpse of the Celtic goal. The Brazilian slid narrowly wide, five minutes short of the break, when meeting a Dani Alves cross.
That served as a reminder to Celtic, who had impressively kept the Catalans at arm’s length, as to the value of concentration. Xaxi proved likewise, with a free-kick that prompted Fraser Forster into an unorthodox save only seconds before the half-time whistle blew.
A hitherto tame contest was to explode into life after 58 minutes. Brown fouled the marauding Neymar, in itself not an incident worthy of a red card.
Where the Celtic midfielder erred was offering a subsequent sly kick towards an opponent who would not be slow in making the most of it.
This Champions League has not been kind to Brown, who fouled Mario Balotelli at San Siro a fortnight ago in conceding the free-kick that lead to Milan’s second goal of a 2-0 win.
Brown gave little by way of protest before heading to the dressingroom but the home support more than made up for that, with Neymar’s every move thereafter met by fierce booing.
For his part, the referee did not make it clear at the time why Brown had been dismissed.
Brown’s latter action, rather than the initial one, gave the official a perfect post-match excuse in the event he had actually made a mistake.
Amid an almighty din, Lennon introduced James Forrest and Beram Kayal. That almost paid off as Forrest’s half-volley forced an excellent save from Victor Valdes. From the resultant corner, Charlie Mulgrew sent a header wide with Valdes out of position.
Barca predictably supplied immediate punishment. The substitute Alexis Sanchez crossed for Fabregas, anonymous to that point, who floated his header past the stranded Forster.
Mulgrew would later rue that glaring miss “It was an unbelievable chance,” Mulgrew told ITV. “You can see that on the TV. I should have scored.”
Mulgrew claimed the referee had been intimidated into sending Brown off by the Barcelona players.
Changed his mind
The referee had first taken the yellow card out of his pocket in response to the initial foul on Neymar, but appeared to have a clear view of the kick that followed and changed his mind amid protests from the visitors.
Mulgrew claimed Brown had not intended to connect with Neymar’s arm while the Barcelona forward was down.
"I think he's just taken a little step, and (the referee) went with the player's reaction. It was a bit harsh. I don't think he was convinced it was a sending off."I'm not convinced," he said ."Any contact that was made was minimal. It's in front of the referee but there's a lot else going on out there. It changed the game."–
Guardian Service
CELTIC: Forster, Lustig (Forrest 69), van Dijk, Ambrose, Izaguirre, Matthews, Brown, Mulgrew, Samaras, Commons (Pukki 86), Stokes (Kayal 70). Subs not used: Zaluska, Biton, Balde, Rogic. Booked: Lustig, Samaras, Izaguirre.
BARCELONA: Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Bartra, Adriano, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta (Song 89), Fabregas (Tello 78), Pedro (Alexis 75), Neymar. Subs not used: Pinto, Montoya, Jonathan, Sergi Roberto. Booked: Fabregas, Busquets, Alexis.
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France).
Attendance: 60, 000
