Celta Vigo vs. Barcelona: 5 Things We Learned

Cristiano Ronaldo scored against all 19 La Liga sides last season, but he didn't do it consecutively.

In the tit-for-tat world that we like to imagine Ronaldo and Lionel Messi live in, the Argentinian must have decided that to do it in a row would be much better.

And so he did.

His goal against Celta Vigo put Barcelona up 2-1 and meant that he had scored against every current La Liga side in consecutive matches.

It looked like the winner too—another chapter for the storybook of the boy from Rosario.

Except it wasn't.

In a late twist, Celta Vigo's holding midfielder, Borja Oubina, did what he rarely does—he scored.

Os Celestes were more in need of the point than La Blaugrana were of the three, but a late goal never leaves a nice taste.

Here are some other things to take from Celta Vigo's late draw with Barcelona...

Barcelona Are Focused on PSG

How does this sound for a team?

Victor Valdes between the posts behind a back four of Adriano, Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba.

Try a midfield three of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, and then throw together a front three of Pedro, David Villa and Gerard Deulofeu.

Not bad, eh?

That's an 11 you could have put together on Saturday night featuring Barcelona players who were either suspended, injured or simply rested. 

In a team which included Martin Montoya, Marc Bartra and Alex Song, it was clear to see where La Blaugrana's attention was lying at Balaidos:

Firmly on Paris.

This week they'll take on PSG in the Champions League, and, injuries permitting, you can expect to see a much stronger group of players stepping out on Tuesday night.

Celta Can Be OK Without Aspas

A moment of madness in the 3-1 defeat to Deportivo La Coruna saw Celta Vigo's best player, Iago Aspas, sent off and banned for four matches.

With 10 goals and six assists to his name in La Liga, it is no wonder there were concerns over how they would cope without him while he's suspended.

Against Barcelona, though, they proved in patches, albeit from the most unlikely sources, that they may well be OK without the 25-year-old.

Two holding midfielders—Natxo Insa and Borja Oubina—scored the goals which earned them a point, while Park Chu-Young and Mario Bermejo both fulfilled different roles as the central forward in Aspas's absence.

Celta had chances, and it is there that they will look to seek encouragement.

If they continue to create in their upcoming fixtures against Rayo Vallecano, Mallorca and Real Zaragoza, then they'll have a good chance of picking up some points to push them toward safety.

Tello and Messi Have an Understanding

The Celta Vigo defense stepped up and looked across at the linesman.

"Offside?" They would have thought, but in the time it took them to see no flag was forthcoming, Cristian Tello had already raced clear.

He then cut back inside and, on his right foot, curled beautifully past Javi Varas to level the scores in Vigo.

Lionel Messi had played the inch-perfect pass over the top, and in the second half, Tello would return the favor.

Collecting a pass from Messi, Tello—as he so often did in the match—got to the byline before pulling the ball back across goal for the Argentinian to tap home and give Barca the lead.

It was the 19th consecutive game in which Messi had scored against a different La Liga side (see the opening slide).

But aside from another record, it was his understanding with Barca's young winger that the draw may be best remembered for.

Barca Targeted Jonny

Celta Vigo's first-choice right-back is quite young. 

Hugo Mallo, who is out for the rest of the season, is 21 but already has well over 100 appearances for Os Celestes. 

Their second choice for the position is even younger: Jonathan Castro Otto, better known as Jonny, only turned 19 this month.

Both are talented and have great potential, but unfortunately, the latter lacks experience and Barcelona looked to target that on Saturday night.

Cristian Tello was a constant threat on the Barca left, and his pace and attacking intent regularly caused Jonny problems.

The persistence of La Blaugrana's attacks down that side must have been more than coincidence, and it was surely preplanned to get at the young full-back.

From Jonny's point of view, there's nothing like being thrown in at the deep end to help your education in the game.

Barcelona Will Still Buy a Central Defender

The date: 21 May, 2011. That was the last time Marc Bartra started a game for Barcelona in La Liga.

On Saturday, he was back in a league starting 11 for La Blaugrana, named alongside Gerard Pique at the heart of the defense against Celta Vigo.

There must be a reason why first Pep Guardiola, then Tito Vilanova and most recently Jordi Roura haven't used the 22-year-old as often as they could have.

Javier Mascherano and even Alex Song are regularly considered ahead of him, and, despite his appearance on Saturday evening, it seems Barca will still dip into the market this summer.

His performance was largely OK, but he lacks the presence to step up that can only come from big-match experience. Something which the club hasn't granted him.

With so many successful products coming from La Masia, there is an expectation that any graduate is better than an outsourced option; unfortunately, this can't always be the case.

There's nothing to say in time Bartra won't become a regular; he's just not the answer for now.