AFP
Dublin, July 31: A blond-haired Lionel Messi failed to get on the scoresheet but it hardly mattered as under-strength Barcelona taught Celtic a footballing lesson in a match of International Champions Cup (North America) here, Saturday.
Strikes by Arda Turan and Munir El Haddadi, and an own goal by Efe Ambrose — all before the break — were enough to earn a 3-1 victory for Luis Enrique’s men in what was their first game back after the summer.
Barcelona came to Dublin without Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Javier Mascherano, Claudio Bravo and Jordi Alba.
Celtic had the bulk of the early chances, but when the opening goal came it was from the Spanish champions, Turan firing home powerfully from the edge of the box.
But when Celtic scored the assist came from a Barcelona error, handing Leigh Griffiths a tap-in from five yards out.
Ambrose and keeper Craig Gordon then conspired to concede a howler, with the centre-half stretching to intercept a harmless cross and sending it beyond the hapless Gordon.
Barcelona added a third before the break as Celtic’s defence collapsed again, with Suarez nipping behind all too easily, before nutmegging Ambrose and squaring to Munir, who was all alone to slot home.
Real beat Chelsea
Ann Arbor (USA): Real Madrid scored three first-half goals and hung on for a 3-2 win against Chelsea in a match at Michigan Stadium here Saturday. The attendance was less than 4,000 shy of the US record attendance for a soccer match, set two years ago at the same stadium when 109,318 watched Real Madrid and Manchester United square off. The crowd turned up even though Real Madrid were without stars Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. Brazilian left back Marcelo (19th, 26th) picked up the slack for Real with a brace and set up Mariano (37th) to put the Spanish side ahead. Eden Hazard (80th, 90th) scored both the goals for Chelsea.
