Jordi Alba delivered the whole stadium with a goal at the very end of the added time (90’+4). Mascherano scored on own goal early in the first half, while Inisesta put the equalizer just before half time. Barça, with 3 wins in 3 matches, has a foot in the next round of the Champions League.
A remodeled starting 11
Still playing without Puyol, Piqué and Alvés (we may also add Abidal, and Thiago Alcantara to this list), Vilanova, FC Barcelona‘s head coach, decided to give the key of the defense to ‘canterano’ Marc Bartra. moving Alex Song to a midfiled position, while Sergio Busquets was in the stands, and cesc Fabregas on the bench, despite his stellar performance last weekend against La Coruña.
Celtic score first
Celtic Glasgow was only a few seconds away from bringing one point home from the Camp Nou. An early header from Samaras (min 18), slightly deflected by Mascherano entered the goal defended by Víctor Valdés.
Golden touch from Messi, Xavi and Iniesta
Barça scored an equalizer just before half time in a great tiki-taka combination between Messi, Xavi and Iniesta (min 45).
Celtic under pressure in the second half
The second half was all Blaugrana, while the Scottish team had 9 men posted in the last 30 metres to protect their goal. A very discreet Alexis sanchez was replaced by Villa with 10 minutes remaining on the clock. A sub which could have paid off if it was not for the right post of the Celtic goalkeeper (min 87).
Luck of the Champion
Call it abnegation, determination… some may say that’s just the luck playing its role for FC Barcelona. They once again waited until the very last minutes to clinch victory: Jordi Alba scored the winning goal in the 94th minute on a cross from Adriano. This is the 3rd time already this season they get the 3 points on late goals, very late goals… The win tastes even better.
Goals
0-1 Samaras min 18
1-1 Iniesta min 45
2-1 Jordi Alba min 90+4
Group G Classification
Still unbeaten in the Champions League group phase, Barça have one foot in the next round with three matches still to play in the group.
| Rankings | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | G.F. | G.A. | +/- | Points | |
| 1. | FC Barcelona | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 9 |
| 2. | Celtic Glasgow | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 3. | Spartak Moscow | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 3 |
| 4. | Benfica Lisbon | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 1 |