Barca kick off against Celtic

Celtic faced a formidable task at Parkhead tonight as they took on Barcelona in the Champions League without Chris Sutton, Joos Valgaeren, John Hartson, Ulrik Laursen, Johan Mjallby and Shaun Maloney because of injuries.

Manager Martin O’Neill was forced to hand 20-year-old striker Craig Beattie his first start at Parkhead in the only change from Sunday’s win over Rangers as Bobo Balde was passed fit after a knee injury.

Barcelona also had a number of high-profile stars missing in Patrick Kluivert, Luis Enrique, Edgar Davids and Giovanni van Bronckhorst but boss Frank Rijkaard could still name a star-studded side which included Ronaldinho with Marc Overmars on the bench.

The game was preceded by a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to the victims of today’s terrorist atrocities in Spain.