Larsson goal icing on cake

By Adam Szreter in Glasgow

It was to be Henrik Larsson's night, and in the end it was, tapping in FC Barcelona's third goal in a 3-1 win after gambling on a half-chance in much the way he did for so many of the 242 goals he scored for Celtic FC before departing for Catalonia in the summer.

Larsson adulation
Prior to the game Martin O'Neill expressed the hope that adulation for Larsson would go no further than a warm welcome. "We have to remember he's playing against us now," was the gist of what the Celtic manager was saying, but he need have had no fears. Such was the intensity of the second half, up to the point that Larsson knocked the stuffing out of his former team-mates, that his entrance as a substitute went almost unnoticed.

Brazilian show
The sight of the two FIFA World Cup winners Juninho Paulista and Ronaldinho, captured on TV chatting away in the players tunnel while the teams waited to be called for the late start, might have been symbolic of the contest to come. But while Ronaldinho won that particular battle by a clear margin before both men were withdrawn, it was a third Brazilian, Deco, albeit a naturalised Portuguese one, who arguably stole the show.

Ronaldinho display
In the early stages Ronaldinho, without question nowadays one of the great players in European football, stamped his authority all over Celtic Park, and in particular the home back four, defying the almost deafening roar of the home fans who knew only too well that stretching an unbeaten home record in Europe to 20 games was going to be a very tall order.

Bewildering movement
He might have opened the scoring as early as the eighth minute, sweeping a sumptuous shot just wide, and he orchestrated some bewildering Barcelona movement, particularly in tandem with Samuel Eto'o. Such was his dominance in that opening period that Deco barely had a touch, reduced to the ill-fitting role of midfield ball-winner while Ronaldino held court.

Deco drive
Deco, UEFA's Most Valuable Player of last season in leading FC Porto to Champions League glory, was not to be suppressed though and after crossing for his erstwhile compatriot to head over, he combined with Ronaldinho to better effect to open the scoring with a superb angled drive.

Juninho suppressed
Thereafter Deco was central to most of Barcelona's best football while Ronaldinho's influence surprisingly waned. Juninho meanwhile was struggling to make serious inroads into his first taste of Champions League football, either on a different wavelength to his less talented team-mates, or simply failing to come to terms with the occasion.

Penalty miss
O'Neill was proved right in replacing him at half-time as Celtic eventually gathered the passion and the drive that sustained them so well in their long unbeaten run. Ronaldinho meanwhile was made to walk the plank after missing a penalty that would probably have killed Celtic off early in the second half.

Giuly reward
It was Ludovic Giuly who had won the penalty, the same player who had squandered two great chances to double the visitors' lead late in the first half; but this time Ronaldinho was culpable, although the noise that greeted him as he stepped up to the spot would have tested the nerve of the very greatest player. Giuly, meanwhile, carried on undeterred and got his just deserts for an impressive display on Barcelona's right flank.

Fans' consolation
Chris Sutton's equaliser was suitable reward for the Celtic fans, who are worthy of at least one goal every game; but this time the superiority of the opposition created too strong a tide even for them to turn; and of course the irony of the final goal, poached from a mistake by Alan Thompson, was not lost on a soul inside the stadium.