As Celta Vigo Run Riot, Barcelona Show They're Hanging on Until January

Sixteen passes and 68 seconds: That's all Celta Vigo needed to set the tone. 

When Sergi Gomez collected the ball in his own half and played it back to his goalkeeper, Sergio Alvarez, he couldn't have envisaged what he was starting so soon: an exquisite, 16-part passing sequence featuring nine of Celta's 11 men, one that would slice open Barcelona's defence and culminate in an Iago Aspas shot. A warning shot. 

Though Aspas pulled his attempt wide, and though just 1:08 was up on the clock, Barcelona had rapidly been shown what they were in for. Celta, whether they would win, lose or draw, were going to give them a dose of their own.

And did they ever.

Seconds after firing the first shot, Aspas harassed Javier Mascherano deep in Barcelona's half, dispossessing the Argentinian. His team then kept it until the clock read 1:48. By the time it read 2:24, Barcelona still hadn't completed a pass inside Celta's half. As early statements go, it was massive. 

The home side, of course, have long been known for their attractive and up-tempo attacking method. Last term, Eduardo Berizzo's men were regular entertainers and hosted one of the season's most captivating clashes in a six-goal tussle with Real Madrid. Earlier in September, they did the same with Las Palmas. Celta don't discriminate.

Yet never before have they looked quite like this. Without the ball, they harassed, pressed, chased, tackled and blocked the visitors to the point of bewilderment. Then with it, they were utterly dynamic. 

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"They are one of the best teams in the league," Luis Enrique had said in the buildup, relayed by his club's official site, and here he was proved correct. Aspas, Nolito and Fabian Orellana buzzed around Barcelona's defence with menace and for an hour looked the equal of the front three at the other end. 

For the opener, Nolito's curling, looping shot to beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen was delightful; for the second, Aspas' audacious chip was equally so. Later, the pair teamed up for the third, Nolito's hooked ball sending Aspas into acres of space on the break to effectively end the contest. 

If the end product was stunning, then the understanding on display between the two Spaniards was even more so. Nolito to Aspas, Aspas to Nolito: It never stopped. There were one-twos between them, backheels, dummy runs, flicks, no-look passes, knockdown headers and, most importantly, assists and goals. 

It wasn't the first time we've seen it from them this season; though the duo inhabit different bodies, they're almost certainly run by the same brain.

At the other end, Barcelona gradually worked themselves into the game but couldn't find a way back. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all drew strong saves from Alvarez, as Celta's intensity dipped just enough to reveal the holes in their defence. And yet that's the thing about Celta: Those holes are always there—they don't try to hide them. Instead, they just keep attacking, compelling their opposition to do the same. They almost dare you into a shootout, asking you, do you back your attack to outgun ours?

Barcelona would normally fancy those odds, but right now, they're not holding pocket aces. 

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After Sunday's low-key victory over Levante, it was noted that Barcelona had switched into power-save mode, the output of the whole operation scaled down. Against an inferior opponent, the Catalans' performance was measured rather than sizzling, the team doing everything to conserve energy and resources. 

Yet such a switch is not a choice—it's a necessity. Barcelona are running on fumes. 

After a taxing run to a historic treble (don't underestimate the physical and mental toll of winning), the Catalans completed an arduous pre-season campaign and then got hit with an early-season fixture list to dread: trips to the San Mames (twice), Vicente Calderon, Balaidos, Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Bernabeu and Mestalla all before Christmas. And then it's off to Japan for the Club World Cup. 

Even with a big squad, the task is difficult. With a small one, well...

One of the few negatives of having such an outstanding XI, a first team that is so clearly defined, is that those on the periphery either don't get the chances they need or go looking elsewhere. This summer, Pedro Rodriguez's departure to Chelsea severely hurt Barcelona's depth. As did Xavi's move to Qatar.

Concurrently, new signings Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal can't be registered until January, leaving Barcelona in a situation in which the squad is thin despite the XI being fearsome. Injuries aren't helping, either.

As such, what we currently have is a Barcelona that wants—sorry, needs—to cruise through games with minimal exertion, knowing that reinforcements are months away, that there's little support to be found on the bench. The demand is for first- or-second-gear driving—it's why Barcelona have yet to score a first-half goal in the league this season. 

Against an uninspiring Levante, of course, that was perfectly fine; against a rampant Celta, however, it wasn't. The enormity of their task between now and January was put in the spotlight. 

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In defence, Mascherano and Gerard Pique were unusually passive, almost standoff-ish, while full-backs Dani Alves and Jeremy Mathieu were torched by Nolito and Orellana on the flanks. In midfield, Andres Iniesta completed some typically fine work in attack, but a casual-looking Sergio Busquets alongside him was repeatedly swarmed upon and dispossessed. And up front, the Messi-Suarez-Neymar triumvirate pressed but did so without the intent of their Celta counterparts. 

In short, the dialled-down version of Barcelona, the one on power-save mode, wasn't enough. And when Enrique looked to the bench, he had only Ivan Rakitic as someone capable of making a difference. The others: Munir El Haddadi, Douglas, Adriano, Marc Bartra, Gerard Gumbau and Jordi Masip. 

Compare that to Atletico Madrid's bench from a night earlier, for instance. In reserve, Diego Simeone had Jackson Martinez, Luciano Vietto, Jose Gimenez, Filipe Luis, Tiago, Angel Correa and Miguel Angel Moya.

The difference is extreme. And so is Barcelona's challenge for the next three months, a challenge up there with the hardest they've faced. 

This isn't a crisis. This isn't a time to panic. For Barcelona, it's simply a matter of getting to January in any way they can. A matter of hanging on.

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