Barca see off Celtic

Glasgow : Lionel Messi hit a brace as he returned to the Barcelona line-up to help book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a comfortable 2-0 win at Celtic on Wednesday.

Messi, who missed Saturday’s goalless draw with Malaga due to illness, provided a fine finish to Neymar’s lofted pass to hand the Spanish champions a 24th-minute lead in Glasgow.

The Barcelona captain, who grabbed a hat-trick in the 7-0 mauling in the reverse fixture in the Camp Nou, then converted a 56th-minute penalty won by Luis Suarez to see his side top Group C with 12 points from five games.

Manchester City’s draw with Borussia Monchengladbach in the group’s other match also sees the English side through and means Celtic can’t pip the Germans to third spot due to their inferior head-to-head record.

“It was quite a hard game and we expected Celtic to come out and make it difficult,” said Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.

“We were good at the back and we got better as the game went on. It was a very difficult group and it’s great to finish first with a game to spare.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers felt his side had improved significantly from their hammering in the Camp Nou, although their European adventures are over for another year.

“I was proud of the team tonight. We looked like we played without any fear and we pressed the game well,” Rodgers said.

“If we take some of our chances then it might have been a different game but we showed a vast improvement, which is important.”

Apart from the injured Andres Iniesta, Barcelona named their strongest 11 as Suarez and Messireturned from suspension and illness respectively to form their formidable partnership with Neymar in the Barca attack.

Celtic didn’t allow the visitors time on the ball as they pressed high up the pitch early on.