But the best action involving Barcelona actually happened earlier when Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez et al put on some big inflatable padding and dived into a game of bubble football.
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Celtic competed well with their La Liga opponents for large parts of the game at the Aviva Stadium but they were ultimately outclassed as Lionel Messi and co started pre-season in style.
The Barcelona coach made a number of half-time changes as Aleix Vidal was the only player to complete the full 90 minutes. Luis Enrique is still the manager, the squad is even stronger thanks to an incredible month of July in the transfer market, and the expectations are once again sky high for the Catalan giants.
BARCELONA: Masip (Suarez, 77); Roberto (Alena, 60), Mathieu (Santos, 60), Martinez (Nili, 77) Vidal; L. Suarez (Mujica, 60), Turan (Carbonell, 60), Camara (Borja, 77); Munir (Gubau, 77), Messi (Samper, 45), D. Suarez (Alvaro, 60).
There was relief for Rodgers when Messi failed to reappear for the second half and a raft of substitutions ensured the pace of the game dropped considerably.
“I think he’s an unlucky guy, bless him”, Rodgers said.
“Probably ideally I would like another four in”, he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Post, following Celtic’s friendly defeat against Barcelona on Saturday.
The closing stages were played out in low-key fashion but neither side will be too concerned as they continued their preparations for the new season.
They played their last game against FC Astana which they drew in their Champions League qualifying match. With the second half punctuated by further changes on both sides, a flatness enveloped the match, with very few chances on created on either side.
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Subs: Fasan (Gordon 45), Fisher (Izaguirre 77), Ciftci (Roberts 45), Dembele (Griffiths 45), Armstrong (McGregor 45), Christie (Forrest 63), Rogic (Bitton 45), Allan (Brown 45), Ajer (O’Connell 45), McCart (Ambrose 63), Ralston (Janko 63).
