Aiden McGeady was left searching for answers after a late double from Lionel Messi denied Spartak Moscow a point in the Nou Camp.
Celtic’s next Champions League opponents were leading 2-1 with 18 minutes left to play when the World Player of the Year struck twice to give the home side full points.
McGeady had his share of hard luck stories at Celtic- taking AC Milan to extra-time for a place in the last eight in 2007- and knew that Barca could never be written off.
“It was a very difficult game,” the former Celt admitted. “We were close to winning- close- but you always know Barcelona will have chances. They came in the second half and they took them.
“We played well. We passed the ball quickly and well. Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world, have the best players, so that’s been the main deciding factor. This could have been a good start but it’s very difficult to come to the Camp Nou and win.
“Personally, I think I performed OK. You’re never going to see much of the ball and I didn’t have one-on-one situations, it was just really trying to keep the ball. I set up the second goal, so overall I was okay, but all of us are disappointed we didn’t come out of this performance with something.”
Spartak coach Unai Emery has faced Barca 13 times without a win with last night a repeat of a familiar story for the former Valencia boss.
“It’s always bad luck for me against Barca,” he admitted. “Every time I come here I work hard to achieve a victory.
“The most important thing was to score, which we did, but it was not enough. In attack we wanted something more. To beat Barcelona you need to play a perfect match.”
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