Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the match between Celtic and Barcelona in the International Champions Cup.
Most of Celtic's attention may be on their fixtures in the Champions League qualifying rounds but that hasn't prevented the Bhoys from competing against Barcelona at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. This game will probably lack the intensity of their recent competitive games but it is always a special occasion when two of the great European clubs lock horns.
As for Barcelona, they are just over 50 minutes away from playing in the first of three fixtures against British opposition. Leicester City and Liverpool will follow next week but for now,
Luis Enrique and his squad are focused on getting their International Champions Cup campaign underway with a win.
Here are some of the players arriving for the game in Ireland. Everyone looks relatively calm but you'd expect nothing else ahead of a friendly. Full team news coming up...
CELTIC XI: Gordon; Janko, Ambrose, O'Connell, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton, McGregor; Roberts, Griffiths, Forrest
CELTIC SUBSTITUTES: Fasan, Fisher, Ciftci, Dembele, Armstrong, Christie, Rogic, Allan, Ajer, McCart, Ralston
BARCELONA XI: Masip, Vidal, Martinez, Mathieu, Camara, Roberto, Turan, D. Suarez, Messi,
Munir, L. Suarez
We will try to bring you the Barcelona bench later but for now, let's assess the selections of the two coaches. As expected,
Brendan Rodgers has made a number of alterations from the team who started in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, with the likes of James Forrest, Nir Bitton, Saidy Janko and Emilio Izaguirre all being given the opportunity to impress against the La Liga giants. Young striker Moussa Dembele is one of the players who drops down to the bench.
Barcelona have included star duo
Lionel Messi and
Luis Suarez in their starting lineup, while Denis Suarez features after making the switch from Villarreal. Young attacker Munir is handed the chance to impress, while third-choice stopper Jordi Masip makes a rare appearance between the sticks.
Barcelona are competing in their first International Champions Cup game this summer but Celtic played last week as they suffered a penalty-shootout defeat to Leicester City. It was quite the game in Glasgow so why not take a look at our
match report.
There appears to be a lot of empty seats at the moment but hopefully that will change in the lead-up to kickoff.
As usual at
Sports Mole, we have all the big matches covered so if there are any Manchester United supporters among you, keep a track of our coverage of the game between
United and Galatasaray. That match gets underway at 6.30pm, BST.
Back to this game and one player missing out this evening is
Kolo Toure. The Ivorian is eligible for the Champions League on Wednesday but
Brendan Rodgers has decided against using his new signing this evening. It seemed the perfect stage to give him 20 minutes ahead of such a crucial game but he is working on his fitness on the training ground.
HEAD TO HEAD! All things considered, the two teams have met regularly in Europe over the past 13 years. There have been as many as 10 fixtures and as you'd expect, Barcelona have prevailed in most of them but Celtic have always ran Barcelona close when they have squared off in Glasgow. Celtic's most memorable win came in 2012 when Tony Watt scored a late winner to earn the Bhoys a 2-1 win but their last meeting ended in an embarrassing defeat as Barca ran out 6-1 victors at Camp Nou.
To save me a job with the Barcelona substitutes, here is the teamsheet from the Aviva Stadium...
PREDICTION! It's never easy to predict the result of a friendly, especially when the underdogs should be considerably fitter and sharper than the favourites. On this occasions, however, he are going for a Barcelona win. In theory, Celtic won't be putting everything into this match and they are likely to be outclassed by Messi, Suarez and co. Barca to win 3-0.
At the conclusion of this fixture, we have full coverage of the game between Real Madrid and Chelsea in the United States. Don't forget to check it out!
We are still awaiting the two teams to emerge from the changing rooms in Dublin. It appears that we may have a slightly delayed start. It may be a good thing because there are plenty of empty seats. You'd have thought that fixture would have been a near sellout.
Finally, we see some players! Slowly but surely, the two teams are making their way out in Dublin. There are a lot more fans inside the stadium now, which is great to see. We are probably looking at 80% full.
Luis Enrique is dressed like he has just got back from an afternoon at the beach. Just thought I'd put that out there.
Barcelona get us underway but quickly put themselves in trouble...
CHANCE! Celtic could easily be ahead after just 15 seconds! After the ball is given away to Roberts, the on-loan winger runs forward before curling a shot narrowly wide of Masip's far corner. That would have been some start.
Since that opportunity, Barcelona have bossed possession but Celtic have a problem with Bitton who has gone over on his ankle. It doesn't look like he will be able to continue.
Better news on Bitton who appears to be running more freely now. He has given the thumbs up to the bench. Barcelona are still having all of the possession, however, with Messi almost setting up Denis Suarez only to see the ball run out for a goal kick.
SHOT! I think Roberts is trying to impress the Barcelona coaching staff. He has been brilliant during these opening eight minutes but after jinking past three players, his left-footed effort is way off target.
GOAL! Celtic 0-1 Barcelona (Turan)
Oh my word. It has taken just 11 minutes of pre-season for Barcelona to find their stride. After Vidal nutmegs a Celtic defender on the right flank, he passes the ball to Turan on the edge of the penalty area and his first-time strike is curled into the top corner of Gordon's net. It's a stunning Barcelona goal.
Celtic are beginning to chase shadows already. We've not seen much of Messi and
Luis Suarez but Barcelona are in full control of this match now. It almost feels like a training exercise. They have had 72% of possession.
A quick interchange between Messi and Camara leads to the left-back getting in behind Roberts on the flank but his attempted shot towards the near post hits the side-netting.
Celtic appear to have settled for the fact that they are going to have to do plenty of running in this first half. It's resulted in the game being played at a pedestrian pace with Barca biding their time looking for a gap to emerge.
SHOT! Celtic are only getting opportunities on goal through a lack of concentration from Barcelona and that is what transpires here as Camara gives the ball away to Brown. However, the Celtic skipper's low shot is comfortably save by Masip in the Barcelona goal.
A patient move from Barcelona ends with Denis Suarez playing the most delicate of passes through to Messi but Izaguirre gets across from his left-back position to muscle the Argentine off the ball. It's a crucial intervention because Messi was a second away from slotting the ball past Gordon.
GOAL! Celtic 1-1 Barcelona (Griffiths)
GOAL! Celtic 1-2 Barcelona (Ambrose own goal)
Where do I start?! We have errors aplenty at the Aviva Stadium.
Jose Antonio Martinez has probably been waiting for his chance to impress Luis Enrique for weeks but a huge lapse in concentration has resulted in Celtic equalising. Masip played the ball across his own box for the awaiting Martinez but he mis-controlled the ball and Griffiths had the easiest of tasks in tapping home from six yards.
However, one minute and 27 seconds later, Barcelona regained the lead through an own goal from Ambrose! A cross from Camara was on its way to Gordon but the defender stuck out a leg to divert the ball inside the near post.
There's a bit more of an edge to this game now. Celtic are certainly encouraged by the goal and despite the Ambrose own goal, they seem to believe that they can make a game of this.
GOAL! Celtic 1-3 Barcelona (Munir)
Maybe not now. It's another wonderful goal from the Spaniards which started with Messi spraying the ball out to Camara on the left. He then played in Suarez who crossed the ball between Ambrose's legs for Munir to tap the ball into the roof of the net from inside the six-yard box.
There will be one minute of added-on time.
HALF TIME: Celtic 1-3 Barcelona
The half-time whistle goes at the Aviva Stadium and Barcelona reach the break with a deserved 3-1 lead. It's a mixture of magic and mistakes but it's been intriguing nonetheless. Expect mass changes from both teams in the second half.
Celtic have made numerous changes at the break and Barcelona have made one or two as well. We will bring you up-to-date throughout the second half. We are back underway.
It's been all Celtic at the start of this second half with Dembele having already seen a decent strike just miss the corner. There's been a role reversal with the Bhoys dominating possession but they look like playing themselves into trouble in their own half.
SHOT! More good play from Celtic ends with Rogic getting a well-struck effort on goal but his attempt just misses the bottom corner from 25 yards. Rodgers will be encouraged by this start.
Messi has been given the second half off by Luis Enrique but Luis Suarez is continuing to pull the strings around the penalty area. He just misses out on completing another tremendous move but Barcelona are building up a head of steam once again.
SHOT! Johansen gives the ball away in his own final third and Barcelona have plenty of men forward as they search for a fourth. However, Denis Suarez decides to go for a shot himself and sees substitute goalkeeper Fasan make a solid stop.
SHOT! It takes some ball to win pass of the night in a Barcelona side but Sergi Samper has just achieved that. An exquisite ball over the top finds Luis Suarez but his first-time volley is miscued well wide of the mark. It proves to be Suarez's last contribution as Luis Enrique throws on a number of youngsters.
Celtic have also thrown on a number of academy players. This could get complicated...
This is essentially Celtic's second-string against Barcelona 'B' now. Many of the quality players may have left the pitch but plenty are keen to impress their respective bosses.
CHANCE! It will only go down as a half-chance but Munir should be hitting the target. The diminutive attacker met a corner at the near post but his header went several yards over the crossbar.
SHOT! Munir has seemingly taken on full responsibility in the Barcelona attack with Messi and Suarez having left the pitch but he still can't find his second goal. He received the ball around 25 yards from goal but his shot was never threatening the target.
I think the crowd have lost interest in this match now that Messi, Suarez and co have left the pitch. The atmosphere has dropped considerably. Both teams are still giving it everything but there's not a whole lot happening.
CHANCE! That was a big chance for Celtic to get back into the game. Rogic has been one of Celtic's better players this half and his pass to Armstrong leads to his teammate getting in on goal but his shot is tame and straight at the goalkeeper.
There have been more alterations from both sides. Don't expect me to tell you who has been introduced because I have completely lost track now. There have been at least 15 substitutions in this match. It's probably edging towards 20 now.
SHOT! Rogic is again in the thick of the action and his low drive comes within half-a-yard of finding the bottom corner. Based on this performance, the Australian deserves to start against Astana on Wednesday night.
Many fans are heading for the exits now. They don't expect to see much more action. Celtic are having the better of the play but I would be surprised to see any more goalmouth activity.
There will be two minutes of added-on time. Totally unnecessary, Mr. Referee.
FULL TIME: Celtic 1-3 Barcelona
The full-time whistle goes in Dublin and Barcelona have completed a 3-1 win over Celtic. The Scottish side competed until the end at the Aviva Stadium but they were ultimately outclassed by an excellent display from the Catalan giants.
That will be all from Sports Mole for this game but we hope that you can stick around for the next few hours as we have coverage of Manchester United's friendly with Galatasaray and Chelsea's clash with Real Madrid in the United States. Goodbye for now.