Neil Lennon's Barcelona verdict

Neil Lennon watched Barcelona off the ball as much as on it as they beat Deportivo la Coruna 5-4 on Saturday night.

All those evenings with Sky Sports had given the Celtic boss an insight into the magicians from the Nou Camp but three days before meeting up with Tito Vilanova’s side the hoops boss got to see Messi and friends close up and dangerous.

Lionel Messi again dominated the headlines with his 57^th, 58^th and 59^th goals of 2012 keeping Barca in front after racing in to a 3-0 lead after just 18 minutes.

“Everyone knows how good they are with the ball and they have world-class players in every position, but it’s different to see them in the flesh,” Lennon explained.

“It was good to see where they go off the ball because you don’t get to see that on the TV. That will help me a lot with the way we set-up.”

“It’s down to our players on the night. We’ll go there with no expectation on us and have a go at it.

“I want us to try and create chances and we’ve managed to do that in just about all of the games away from home in Europe in the past year.

“We know all about them whether we can combat their strengths is the next thing.

“All we can do is concentrate on our own players and match them up as best we can.”

Turning to the famous Argentinian the Celtic boss added: “Messi’s hat-trick goal… well, you run out of superlatives to describe him. It gets you thinking: How do you stop that? How do you defend against that?

“Going forward, Barca are just a dream. The possession and movement was tremendous and they don’t really play with a centre forward as such.

“The front players tend to suck you out and they hit you with a bit of pace in the final third. There is great pace throughout.

“Cesc Fabregas had a brilliant game. He was everywhere with his attacking and recovery runs to get back. They take him off and bring Xavi on. It’s one world beater for another!”

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