Barca thumpin’ special
Barcelona yesterday picked up where they left off against Celtic as the Catalan club’s terrifying trident sliced La Liga new boys Leganes open.
Lionel Messi scored either side of goals from Neymar and Luis Suarez as Luis Enrique’s side won 5-1 four days after routing Brendan Rodgers’ men 7- 0.
Rafinha curled in their fifth before Gabriel Appelt’s free-kick denied the away side a clean sheet.
A few hours later Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Atletico Madrid claimed a 5-0 win over Sporting Gijon.
Barca are now level on points with Real Madrid, who will be without Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo for today’s trip to Espanyol.
Enrique, whose side lost to newly-promoted Alaves last week, deployed his team with a back three when in possession, switching to a 4-4-2 shape without the ball.
The Nou Camp boss said: “With a three-man defence they could press us very high. But we’re Barca and we assume these risks.”
Celtic’s other Champions League rivals, Borussia Moenchen g l adba ch , bounced back from their 4- 0 loss to Manchester City by putting four past Werder Bremen in a sensational first half to win 4-1.
Thorgan Hazard and Raffael grabbed two apiece as Werder, who had Serge Gnabry to thank for their goal, saw Aron Johannsson sent off for dissent.
Borussia Dortmund were the star turns in the Bundesliga, though, as Gonzalo Castro’s double inspired a 6- 0 win over Darmstadt 98 four days on from hammering Legia Warsaw by the same margin.
Bayern Munich were far less convincing, coming from a goal down at home to defeat Ingolstadt 04 3-1.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti said: “Sometimes it is not possible to play well. Then we have to show other qualities and that is what the team did.”