Jordi Alba secures win over Celtic for Barca

Jordi Alba’s last minute goal gave Barca a breath of fresh air last night to go into the second leg against Celtic with a 2-1 lead but it was Celtic who scored first in a match dominated by Barcelona’s exquisite football and it was Andrés iniesta who levelled the scoreboard just before the half time whistle.

At one point the stats read 78% ball possession to Barca and it clearly showed who was in control of this game. Celtic were very good on the break and had the Catalan giants on the back foot on more than one occasion. Celtic played Barca style football until the 70th minute when they seemed to run out of ideas. With 20 minutes still to go on the clock, Barca ramped up the pace and the Scottish outfit were no match for Tito’s Barcelona.

It was Georgios Samaras who put the Scottish side into the lead with a header from a free kick from Charlie Mulgrew. Then, just before the break, a sublime Andrés Iniesta levelled the scores to keep the visitors at bay.

Fraser Foster, Celtic’s tall keeper had to make some fine saves to keep Barcelona pinned back as it looked quite clear that the Catalans wanted to wrap this game up as quickly as possible.

Barca had numerous chances in the second half and neither Leo Messi nor David Villa could find the net to put this game to bed.

Celtic had a few runs at Barcelona in the second half but nothing too worrying for the Catalan team. Alex Song was very solid at the back as was Adriano and Mascherano.

It was up to Jordi Alba to find the net in the dying seconds of the four minutes of extra time added on by the referee. He latched on perfectly to an Adriano cross that curled past 3 Celtic defenders to beat Forster with a well timed tap-in. Celtic couldn’t believe it and Barcelona had the elusive second goal they had been after for the whole of the second half. It could have been more as David Villa’s beautifully struck shot on the edge of the box hit the keeper’s right hand post minutes before Jordi Alba sealed Celtic’s fate.

It was a tough game for Barca and the height difference between the two sides was almost laughable with the exception of the likes of Alex Song, who could hold his own against the Scots. Barcelona now travel to Celtic for the next leg with a goal up and everything to play for.