Barcelona 1-2 Celta Vigo: 5 talking points as Celta dump 10-man Barcelona out of title race

The title race in La Liga will go to the final day. Unfortunately, Barcelona won't be a part of it as they were defeated at the Camp Nou by Celta Vigo on Sunday night.

The game ended 2-1 in favor of the visitors who came back from behind against the hosts who were reduced to 10 men in the 83rd minute. Defender Clement Lenglet was given the marching order after his second booking of the game.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a rare header but Barcelona were caught napping in the 38th minute by Santi Mina's long-range stunner. Chances continued to come up for Blaugrana but their wastefulness in front of the goal continued to bother them.

Ronald Araujo missed a golden opportunity to put Barcelona in the lead in the 66th minute but headed the ball over the roof of the net. Mina completed the comeback for the visitors as they used their numerical advantage on a quick counter-attack to score an 89th-minute winner.

As the hosts drop out of the title race, here we take a look at the five talking points from the game.

#5 Clinical Celta get the job done against Barcelona

FC Barcelona v RC Celta - La Liga Santander

Celta Vigo recorded a big win against the Catalan giants. Both of their goals came against the run of play and were a result of some smart counter-attacking play.

Santi Mina deserved all the credit for his first goal of the night as he took Iago Aspas' pass in his stride and finished wonderfully from the edge of the box. The visitors only had three more attempts on goal after that.

All four of their shots on goal were on target, the same tally that Barcelona reached after 20 shots tonight. The second goal was scored when Augusto Solari's cross came back off the post and Mina connected well on the rebound.

Despite being the second-best side in the game, they displayed great determination to end Barcelona's title hopes.

#4 Lionel Messi lacked support in the final third

Barcelona have made a habit of dropping points in crucial fixtures. Tonight's loss came after two back-to-back draws and one of the reasons why they have struggled to get the right results in recent games has been the inconsistency of the players.

While the club have fallen short in every part of the field, they have been heavily reliant on Lionel Messi in the final third, which is a matter of concern for the hosts.

Messi produced a man-of-the-match display tonight and had as many as eight attempts on goal with two of them on target. He completed a whopping 14 dribbles as well and created two key passes.

If only his teammates could've matched his frequency tonight, maybe the result would've been different for Ronald Koeman's men.

Also See: 10 highest-paid players in La Liga this season

#3 Celta Vigo score twice against Barcelona at the Camp Nou for the first time

Celta Vigo recorded a historic win over Barcelona. This was just their second win against the Catalan giants at the Nou Camp in 116 games against the La Liga giants.

What made this win historic was that they found the back of the net against them twice for the first time in their travels since 1941 when they recorded a 2-0 win at the Camp de Les Corts, Barcelona's old home ground.

Celta have made it five wins in a row and could end the season on a high after their struggles earlier this season.

#2 Lionel Messi makes more goalscoring history in La Liga

Lionel Messi was the star of the show for Barcelona yet again. Though his performance did not earn a win for the hosts, he added more personal laurels to his name with his 30th La Liga goal of the season.

He has now scored 30 goals in the league in nine different seasons, a historic feat in itself, as no other player in the history of Europe's top five leagues has managed to maintain that level of consistency in front of the goal.

He has maintained a considerable lead in the Pichichi trophy race and is guaranteed to lift the coveted trophy for a record-extending eighth time at the end of the season.

#1 Barcelona's loss is Real Madrid's gain

Barcelona were made to pay for their wastefulness in front of the goal and defensive errors by Celta Vigo tonight as they ended Barcelona's slim chances of lifting the La Liga title this year for good.

This loss has now left the title race to be played out between the two capital-based clubs in Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Both clubs recorded narrow wins in their fixtures tonight and unlike Barcelona, held onto their nerves to ensure that the La Liga title hangs in the balance right until the last moments of the campaign.

Barcelona's loss proved to be Real Madrid's gain, as they can lift the league title in an unlikely scenario if Atletico drop points against 19th place Valladolid and they record a win over Villareal.

Here, Real Madrid's superior head-to-head record will help them win their second title in a row despite Atletico's better goal difference.

About the author

Shubham is a football journalist with a wealth of experience. It was Zidane's infamous headbutt at the 2006 World Cup final that got him hooked on to the sport. Shubham contributed to the 2022 FIFA World Cup coverage at Sportskeeda, producing match previews and even minute-to-minute live blogs. Apart from writing articles, he is adept at fact-checking and researching trends, and at communicating with the editorial team.

For all fans, he has one message: "Football is my cup of tea, let's talk football over a cup of tea."

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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava

Barcelona 1-2 Celta Vigo: 5 talking points as Celta dump 10-man Barcelona out of title race | La Liga 2020-21