Barcelona vs. Celtic: Score, Reaction from 2016 Champions League Match

Every once in a while, on a fateful evening in the Champions League, a club like Celtic will shock a club of Barcelona's stature.

Tuesday was not that evening.

The Spanish champions absolutely steamrolled Celtic, 7-0, behind brilliant performances from Lionel Messi (three goals, one assist), Neymar (one goal, four assists) and Luis Suarez (two goals, one assist). Andres Iniesta also scored for the Catalans, who, save for one penalty scare in the first half, thoroughly dominated the Scottish side in every phase of the game.

Indeed, without being too harsh on Celtic, Barcelona appeared to be toying with them at times. The Catalans completely controlled this contest, as the stats from Squawka Football illustrate:

And it didn't take Barcelona long to establish their might. 

Just three minutes into the contest, Neymar played a perfect pass outside of the box to Messi, slipping him past the defense and leaving him alone down the left side. The Argentine superstar had a tough angle to shoot but wasn't deterred, ripping a howler past goalkeeper Dorus de Vries.

It was typical Barcelona, and Celtic already looked out of their league, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweeted:

Messi has been nursing a hamstring injury he picked up during the international break, but you'd hardly know it, as Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated noted:

But Celtic appeared to have an answer.

The Scottish side roared on the counter in the 23rd minute, and Moussa Dembele was sent through on goal following a lovely through ball. Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen rushed forward to intercept the pass and dove for the ball, but the former Fulham man got a foot on it first before the German took him out, drawing the foul and the yellow card.

Ter Stegen redeemed himself, however, making a diving save to his right on Dembele's penalty attempt. That stop perhaps shouldn't have come as a surprise, as Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC noted:

Celtic would pay dearly just minutes later, however, as Neymar and Messi shared a series of passes back and forth, splitting through nearly half of Celtic's team before the Argentine practically walked the ball into the goal to give Barcelona a 2-0 lead in the 27th minute.

Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe was impressed by the display:

And Telegraph Football shared a graphic of the buildup play that led to the game's second tally:

Things didn't get any better for Celtic in the second half. After Messi was fouled on the edge of the box in the 48th minute, Neymar stepped up to take the free kick and curled an absolute beauty past the outstretched arm of De Vries.

Squawka News shared the cracking goal in a series of photos:

In a game full of fantastic goals, it was the game's highlight. Well, at least until Iniesta's absurd volley nine minutes later.

As he had done for the first three goals, Neymar played an instrumental role in the fourth, finding space down the left flank before whipping a cross into the box. There, he found a sprinting Iniesta, who smashed his volley into the roof of the net.

It was the sort of goal that anyone could appreciate, as the Men in Blazers noted:

And yet, Barcelona weren't done there.

A mere minute later, the Catalans struck again, pouring forward on to the attack. This time, it was Luis Suarez who played the role of facilitator, pulling back from the right side of the box to the charging Messi, who slid into the low cross and redirected it into the net for his hat-trick. Behind him was Neymar, who surely would have scored with a back-heel attempt had the ball reached him. 

Suarez wasn't satisfied with a lone assist, however, and he put his name on the scoresheet in spectacular fashion in the 75th minute. Neymar picked up his fourth assist with a lofted pass over the top of the defense into the box for the Uruguay international, who played the ball off his chest, turned his body toward goal and smashed a volley into the net.

Ed Malyon of the Mirror described it aptly:

"

Silly goal from Suarez

— Ed Malyon (@eaamalyon) September 13, 2016"

Suarez would earn his brace in the 88th minute, redirecting Messi's low cross into the right side of the net.

Overall, it was as dominating a performance as you'll likely see in the Champions League and a stark warning to the other clubs in Group C (Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City) that any mistakes against Barca are likely to be costly.

For Celtic, meanwhile, it was a humbling evening, especially coming off the high from the club's 5-1 win over Rangers on Saturday.

Up next for Barcelona in Group C play will be a matchup with Borussia Monchengladbach on Sept. 28, while Celtic will face Manchester City that same day.

Post-Match Reaction

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

After the match, Suarez seemed pleased to finally get the chance to play with Messi and Neymar again.

“With the international break and the Olympic Games, we were not able to play together," he told the club's website. "Today we had the chance to start together and to help the team to three points. Last year, we scored many goals, but the important thing is for them to go towards titles.”

The trio thrived in their reunion, and Barca manager Luis Enrique enjoyed the display.

“We practically didn’t commit any mistakes," he told the club's website. “The players had fun, and that allowed the Barca supporters to have fun."

He added: “The team did a lot of good things. We played so well, the approach of our opponents didn’t matter in the least.”

As for hat-trick man Messi, Enrique had the highest praise.

“Messi’s the best player in the world, at whatever position he plays," he said. "Messi is total football.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was more somber in his comments, as was to be expected.

"This is going to be a learning season," he said, per Celtic's Twitter account. "Tough night, but no embarrassment because they do that to much better teams than ourselves."

He added: "It’s a disappointment. Tough to take but these players have been brilliant."

Dembele also commented on the defeat:

Celtic will now need to regroup. Two contests against Gladbach and Manchester City apiece, along with another meeting with Barca, will make advancing out of the group difficult. They'll need to put Tuesday's devastation behind them—and quickly.

As for Barca, they reminded the rest of Europe in no uncertain terms that they are once again not to be trifled with this season.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.