Celta Vigo vs. Barcelona: Winners and Losers from La Liga

Celta Vigo shocked the footballing world by defeating Barcelona 4-1 on Wednesday evening, with goals from Nolito, Iago Aspas (two) and John Guidetti securing the points for the hosts.

Os Celticos started superbly and scored twice in the first 30 minutes to compound their dominance, the first a delicious curling effort from Nolito, the second a one-on-one chipped conversion from Iago Aspas.

Aspas made it three early in the second half, and a slew of saves by Sergio Alvarez prevented a boiling Barca comeback, and although Neymar did net one late on, Celta responded immediately with a fourth to kill the contest.

"We can only congratulate Celta, they played a very complete game." Luis Enrique told journalists after the game. "This result should help us to see that this season will be difficult. Now we have to think about improving."

Here, B/R picks its winners and losers from the game.

Winner: Nolito, Celta Vigo

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"He's a great player and one of the key pieces of their team. I hope he has an off-day,” Luis Enrique said of Nolito (h/t International Business Times) ahead of the game.

The Celta Vigo No. 10 has been in fantastic form to begin the season, and he’s a player “Lucho” knows only too well, having signed him for the club whilst in charge in 2013.

Well, that didn’t happen; Nolito ran rings around Barcelona’s defenders, scoring a goal and assisting two more as the minnows emerged surprise victors in an engaging contest. His blend of skill and productivity in attack was too much to handle for the defending champions.

According to SPORT, he’s being targeted by Barcelona as a January addition, so this may have served as a sort of audition for a bid. Nolito is a former Barca B player who was surplus to requirements, but his blossoming over the last 18 months could secure him a dramatic return.

Loser: Dani Alves, Barcelona

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None of Barcelona’s defenders played especially well on Wednesday evening, with perhaps only Javier Mascherano escaping with his dignity intact. The others were a shambles, losing shape, discipline and control within five minutes of kick-off.

Gerard Pique was robbed on the halfway line for the second goal in embarrassing fashion, but the clear worst player in the line was right-back Dani Alves. He was tortured by Nolito’s movement and close control, and he was prevented from attacking with gusto due to the consistent danger the winger presented.

Worst of all, he was tamely lobbed by Iago Aspas for the third goal, getting sucked under the ball and left for dead as the Spaniard raced in on goal.

Winner: Iago Aspas, Celta Vigo

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John Guidetti signed for Celta Vigo this summer expecting to be a regular feature in attack, but a Liverpool reject in the form of Iago Aspas has blocked his path to the first team.

The Spaniard put in another brilliant showing on Wednesday, with ESPN FC’s Dermot Corrigan labelling it a “great No. 9 performance.”

Truthfully Aspas could have had four goals; he ran through one-on-one three times and missed twice, once early on and once late. But the margin of the victory meant those meant little, and we can be left to salivate over the two sublime strikes that did nestle in Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s net.

The chipped finish to make it 2-0 was just so cool, and the way he lobbed Dani Alves to stride through on goal to make it three took the breath away. When confident, he can be some player.

Loser: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Barcelona

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Marc-Andre ter Stegen won’t be happy with his performance on Wednesday, and he really is squandering the chance to nail down the starting berth as Barcelona’s goalkeeper.

It’s arguable he should have done better for both the first and second goals, and while his defensive line crumbled early and never recovered, it doesn’t provide amnesty for another unconvincing showing.

With Claudio Bravo injured, this was Ter Stegen’s chance to box the Chilean out of the XI and make himself an undisputed starter. But 15 goals conceded in six games is a horrendous record, and it won’t be encouraging Luis Enrique to leave Bravo out of the lineup any longer than necessary.

Winner: Augusto Fernandez, Celta Vigo

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Away from all the goalscoring goodness and goalkeeping gaffes, Augusto Fernandez had a brilliant game in central midfield for Celta Vigo. He has as big claim to the Man-of-the-Match award as either Nolito or Iago Aspas.

From the word go, the Argentine switched play to initiate attacks regularly and crunched through a serious number of challenges. During one with Andres Iniesta, he dislocated a finger, but rather than roll around wincing, he trotted over to the sideline to have it popped in and taped, then re-entered the fray inside 30 seconds.

His highlight moment was a sensational block on Neymar to prevent a guaranteed goal with the score at 2-0.

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