Barcelona 6-1 Celtic: Neymar’s first hat-trick in Europe!

Posted by: neydmin Posted date: December 11, 2013 In: Neymar news | comment : 0

Full-time: Barcelona 6-1 Celtic
Goals: Piqué (7′), Pedro (39′), Neymar (44′, 48′, 57′), Tello (72′)
Match date: December 11, 2013
Stadium: Camp Nou
Competition: UEFA Champions League
Barcelona line-up: Pinto, Montoya, Piqué, Mascherano, Adriano, Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Xavi, Neymar, Pedro, Alexis Sanchez.

Neymar has definitely stolen the show at the Camp Nou this Wednesday night, as he netted his first hat-trick wearing a Barcelona jersey and led the home side into an easy and comfortable 6-1 win over a lethargic Celtic Glasgow.

Barcelona‘s routing victory over Celtic started quite early in the game. With just 6 minutes played in the first half, Alexis Sánchez found himself in good position to attempt to score, but saw his shot being blocked and rebounding into Piqué feet. The former Manchester United centre defender controlled the ball first and then touched it in to give Barça the lead. The 2-0 came in later in the 1st-half, on a loose ball recovered by Piqué already on Celtic‘s half, and which allowed the Spaniard to send it through to Neymar. The Brazilian took on a defender to find the room he needed and then assisted Pedro on the centre, for an easy tap-in finish.

The 3-0 arrived right after, when Xavi picked Montoya with a great lob pass towards the back of Celtic‘s defense and then the Spanish right-back left it over for Neymar to easily strike it past Fraser Forster. The Scottish champions were being torn apart at the Camp Nou, and there were still 45 minutes left to be played…

The second half started with another Neymar goal, this time coming from a beautiful combination between himself and Xavi. The former Santos forward finished it off with a strong left-foot strike, proving his critics wrong about not being capable of scoring in the European stages. But Neymar‘s ruthless statement wasn’t over yet and he would complete his hat-trick in the 57th minute of the game. The Brazilian superstar showed why he is regarded by many as Barcelona‘s brightest future for the coming years and nutmegged a Celtic defender on his way to score his most spectacular goal so far for Barcelona. For a moment, it seemed as if we were still seeing Neymar dribbling highlights for Santos, when it was actually a play produced in the biggest stage of all, the UEFA Champions League. 5-0 for Barça!

Rodrigo Tello would still score another goal for the hosts in the 72nd minute, which was to be followed by Celtic‘s consolation prize, when Samaras reduced for the visitors, setting the final score at 6-1 to Barcelona. The UEFA Champions League last-16 draw will take place next Monday…

Sources: fcbarcelona.com / scotsman.com