Lionel Messi carried Barcelona to victory in a 2-0 favor that effectively eliminates Celtic from the Champions League. The match results boosted Barcelona to round 16 of the League while kicking Celtic out of Europe.
Messi scored one goal in each half bringing the team to a win. According to The Guardian, the Argentinian's prominence was a joy to watch. Relevant to this, ESPN made a note of the Barca team with or without Messi. Although, "dependence" may be a strong word to say when it comes to Barcelona and Messi's relationship, the team is definitely a force to reckon with or in Celtic's case, to fear. Coming back from a stomach bug, the soccer superstar is now at 18 goals in all competitions.
As for the Celtic, Coach Brendan Rogers does not see the loss against Barcelona as a disappointment since there's a big improvement on his team's performance. He proudly commended the way the team handled the match and focused on the invaluable aspect of the match. Though kicked out of the league, Celtic have much to improve in the process of rebuilding through domestic pursuits.
The coach can be remembered saying that the Camp Nou crashing defeat from the Spanish champions at 7-0 would not be repeated in future matches. True to the word, in the recent match with Barca, the Celtic was competitive enough to face the team.
With Barcelona's good start in on the round of 16, ESPN also noted Gerard Pique pointing out that the team's budget and players like Messi, Neymar and Suarez are enough reasons for them to beat the majority of their opponents. Luis Enrique, the Barca coach also expressed optimism for this good start recognizing the difficulty of the section they just won. With all these, Barcelona is expected to maintain their streak in the Champions League.
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