Celta Vigo vs. Barcelona: Score and Reaction from 2016 La Liga Match

Celta Vigo beat Barcelona at the Estadio Municipal de Balaidos for the second year in a row on Sunday, grabbing a 4-3 win over the Catalan giants in La Liga.

Pione Sisto and Iago Aspas gave the Galicians a two-goal lead, and Jeremy Mathieu's own goal ensured they entered half-time with the wind in their sails.

Gerard Pique pulled one back for the Catalans shortly after half-time, and a Neymar penalty kick with almost a half-hour left to play set up a tense finale. Pablo Hernandez took advantage of a second Marc-Andre ter Stegen blunder, however, and while Pique pulled his team back to within one, it was too little, too late.

As the Catalans' official Twitter account shared, Jordi Alba returned to the starting XI:

Barcelona started the match in dominant fashion, and Neymar had a golden opportunity to give his team the lead minutes into the contest, firing a free-kick from a promising position off the wall.

The Brazil international functioned as the main playmaker in the attacking third, with Lionel Messi on the sideline. With Neymar pushing the team forward, Barcelona dominated the opening stages, although chances were few.

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Goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez was put to work after 12 minutes following a nice bit of passing between Alba and Luis Suarez, with the latter eventually getting off a shot.

But the Catalans were surprisingly shaky at the back with their passing, gifting the ball to Aspas on two occasions and setting up a few chances:

Pique blocked a Daniel Wass shot before Alvarez made a strong claim to catch a cross from Suarez. Celta's pressure intensified, however, and after 22 minutes, it paid off.

Sergio Busquets couldn't gain control of a bad pass from Ter Stegen, and Aspas eventually worked the ball over to Sisto, who cleanly finished the quick move.

Per Sport, the Catalans didn't learn from their mistakes:

The goal seemed to flip the momentum on its head, as Barcelona suddenly started playing sloppy, careless football. Similar to last season's match, which ended 4-1 in favour of the hosts, Celta frustrated the Blaugrana with plenty of pressure and quick breaks, and Barcelona barely worked the ball into the Celta box.

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Gustavo Cabral took some risks facing his own goal but eventually worked his way out of trouble before Aspas made it 2-0, first beating Busquets and then turning past Pique before firing a low shot into the corner.

Less than two minutes later, Wass fired a sharp cross into the box, and Mathieu accidentally pushed the ball into his own net to make the score 3-0.

Footy Accumulators said what most were probably thinking:

As the Balaidos got even further behind their favourite team, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique told both Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano to start warming up before half-time. The Catalans were nowhere, and Celta comfortably played out the half.

Per the Guardian's Sid Lowe, the way Barcelona collapsed after the first 10 minutes was staggering:

Iniesta made his way onto the pitch to start the second half, and he quickly took control of the proceedings. While Celta kept their defensive form, blocking a multitude of shots, the Catalans finally moved the ball back into the attacking third.

It soon produced results as Pique easily nodded home an Iniesta cross to make the score 3-1. Per OptaJose, the former Manchester United man has a knack for scoring:

Celta suddenly found themselves on the back foot as Barcelona pushed forward with all their might. Hugo Mallo just managed to head a ball back to his goalkeeper before an opponent intervened, and the defender was penalised just five minutes after Pique's goal for bringing down Andre Gomes, giving away a cheap penalty.

Neymar easily slotted home and got away with a stutter in his run-up, firing his team to within a single goal with 26 minutes still to play.

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Mallo was lucky not to concede a second penalty just minutes later for an almost identical shirt-pull, this time on Neymar.

Iniesta proved to be the difference in the second half, and Enrique gambled with 14 minutes left to play, bringing on Denis Suarez for Busquets.

But just as an equaliser seemed inevitable, the hosts struck again. Ter Stegen waited too long to deal with a back pass and fired an effort straight off Hernandez, with the ball ending up in the net. Lowe had to take a shot at the German:

Ter Stegen redeemed himself with a big save to deny Aspas after a poor intervention from Mathieu, but while the Catalans kept attacking, the goal effectively killed their momentum.

It returned with three minutes of regulation left, however, as Pique doubled his tally with another header, this time assisted by Denis Suarez.

Luis Suarez then ran into an avoidable booking for abusing the linesman after he refused to give the Uruguayan a free-kick, losing valuable time in the process. Neymar came close to an equaliser with a looping header, and Pique also headed wide deep in injury time.

Per the club's official Twitter account, Enrique didn't shy away from taking responsibility after the match:

Barcelona will host Deportivo La Coruna after the international break, while Celta will play Villarreal.