Vigo: Celta Vigo are close to a staying another season in La Liga after downing an unrecognisable Barcelona 2-0, which took the field at Balaidos Municipal Stadium with none of its usual first-string players, for an insipid game with little rhythm that was just a process the Catalan squad had to get through before playing Liverpool next Tuesday at Anfield Stadium.
Looking forward to the second leg of the Champions League semifinal, Barca manager Ernesto Valverde did not place on the field any of the players that had defeated Liverpool in the first leg.
This never-before-seen squad was damaged even more when a muscle injury struck Ousmane Dembele just a few seconds into the match, forcing the Frenchman to be substituted.
Celta opened the scoring through Maxi Gomez in the 67th minute before former Liverpool attacker Iago Aspas converted a penalty in the 88th minute to inflict a 2-0 defeat on the makeshift Barca side.
IANS
