Barcelona vs. Celta Vigo: Score and Reaction from 2017 La Liga Match

Barcelona surged back to the top of the La Liga table in emphatic fashion with a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Celta Vigo at the Camp Nou.

Real Madrid hit the summit earlier on Saturday courtesy of a 4-1 victory over Eibar, but Luis Enrique's men weren't fazed and put together a dominant performance.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a beautifully taken strike on 24 minutes before Neymar notched the coolest finish of the season 15 minutes later to double Barca's lead.

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Ivan Rakitic chalked up a third for the hosts in the second half, and Samuel Umtiti added gloss to the result with his first Barcelona goal on the hour mark.

Messi then bagged his second of the evening to cap off a spell-binding performance from the best in the land.

Barcelona came into Saturday's match off the back of a thumping 6-1 victory over Sporting Gijon and looked to pick up from where they left off straight away.

Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were causing endless problems for the Celta defence, while Rakitic was up to his usual tricks, pulling the strings in the heart of midfield.

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It was looking like a case of when Barcelona would score rather than if, and they turned to their star man to break the deadlock in scintillating style.

After picking up the ball on the half-way line, Messi drove at the Celta defence, skipped around two opposing players and placed the ball delicately in the corner.

ESPN's Dermot Corrigan was one of many giving the goal the praise it deserved:

It was a special effort from a special player, but the fact that it wasn't even the best goal of the game speaks volumes; that accolade belongs to Neymar.

On the 39-minute mark, Messi played an inch-perfect pass through to the Brazilian just eight yards from goal, but he somehow managed to lob it over Sergio Alvarez in the Celta goal.

La Liga's official Twitter feed labelled the finish "outrageous":

Celta needed to get off to a fast start in the second half if they were to find a way back into the game, and despite Iago Aspas' best efforts, they didn't get going.

Instead, Barcelona continued to lay siege to the visitors' goal and made it 3-0 just 12 minutes after the restart.

Messi was once again instrumental in the goal, as his delicate pass to Rafinha found its way to Rakitic inside the box, and he made no mistake by sliding the ball under Alvarez.

The Croatian did well to keep his composure and find the net, but replays suggest that he was offside, as per beIN Sports:

From then on, it was the Barcelona show. Celta had the wind taken out of their sails and only looked like they would concede more goals.

And just four minutes after Rakitic notched Barca's third, Umtiti came up with the goods for the home side's fourth.

Messi was the architect behind the goal, as the defender turned home the square pass from close range—in the Frenchman's first game for Barcelona.

In the blink of an eye, Messi was at it again by chalking up his second of the night and making it 5-0.

The Argentinian cut in from the right wing in trademark style with Celta defenders terrified to go near him before firing in a low shot and wrong-footing Alvarez.

By firing home a second goal, Messi became directly involved in four goals for the first time this season, according to OptaJose:

With 25 minutes left on the clock, there was still plenty of time for Barca to find more goals, but they entered a state of auto-pilot and set about closing out the match and the return to the top of La Liga.

Barcelona now sit a point ahead of Real Madrid, although their rivals have a game in hand. Still, the victory shows that Barca mean business and are back to their best.

They face the seemingly impossible task of turning around a 4-0 deficit to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in midweek, and although the French side are a much more fearful prospect than Celta, the signs are good.

Barcelona's season is far from over.

Reaction

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Following the match, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique labelled the performance one of Barca's best of the season, while Rakitic said the display was perfect preparation for the daunting visit of PSG in the Champions League: