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| Celtic 1-3 Barcelona – International Champions Cup |
FC Barcelona played their first match of the 2016/2017 season against Celtic in a preseason friendly match in the International Champions Cup and got off with a winning start, seeing off the Scottish giant 3-1 in Dublin.
Goals from
Arda Turan, Munir El Haddadi and an own goal by Efe Ambrose ensured the Catalan giants come out on top in the encounter despite Celtic scoring one thanks to Leigh Griffiths.
The fans were thrilled after it was confirmed that
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will be in the starting lineup for the game and both players were joined by Jordi Masip, Aleix Vidal, Jeremy Mathieu, Sergi Roberto, Arda Turan and Munir El Haddadi with Denis Suarez making his debut and B players Jose Antonio Martinez and Camara also starting.
Celtic had the first shot of the game after 15 seconds but Barça controlled the game and it didn’t take long before they got the opener as Denis Suarez made a good pass to Aleix Vidal on the right who did well to nutmeg his marker before setting up Arda Turan with a great pass, the Turkish starlet bent his shot on target and made it 1-0 after 11 minutes.
It became 1-1 on 29 minutes after a blunder by Jose Antonio Martinez fed Leigh Griffiths with an empty net but Barça regained the lead one minute later as Celtic defender Efe Ambrose put the ball into his own net after a cross by Camara.
Barça continued their domination and it was just a matter of time before they made it 3-1. Lionel Messi did well to unleash a sublime long pass to Camara on the left, the player found
Suarez who squared the ball through the legs of Efe Ambrose for Munir to tap into an empty net.
The second half started with Samper coming on for Lionel Messi at Halftime and Barça slowed down their intensity. More changes were made and Barça B players took over. They did impressively with Samper, Carbonell and Alena showcasing their skills but few chances were created. Overall, it was a good game.