It was as if they had never been apart. Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez had not started all together for Barcelona since the final of the Copa del Rey on May 22, but they clicked back into gear with an exhibition to crush Celtic on Tuesday.
Neymar was back in the Barca side for his first appearance of the season on Saturday against Alaves, having missed the beginning of the campaign due to his presence at the Olympic Games in Rio. However, both Messi and Suarez started that one on the bench after the international break and none of the three could inspire the Catalans in a shock 2-1 loss to the promoted team.
Luis Enrique had made a series of changes for that match, but brought back Messi, Suarez, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto to face Celtic, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen was available again after injury.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers had said in the build up that he hoped to draw strength from Alaves' win, yet it seemed certain lightning would not strike twice. Barca were angry, the MSN was back together for the first time in 114 days and the team picked for Tuesday's Champions League opener was as strong as it could be - except for the absence of Andres Iniesta who started on the bench.
And the visitors' resistance lasted only two minutes and 46 seconds as Messi blasted home from an angle after he was sent up by Neymar. After that, Ter Stegen gave away a penalty but then redeemed himself by saving Moussa Dembele's spot-kick. A 1-1 scoreline would have flattered Celtic anyway at that stage - and soon enough it was 2-0 as Messi and Neymar combined in a magnificent move which saw the Argentine net his second.
Five minutes into the second half, Neymar then curled home a fantastic free-kick, before assisting Iniesta for the fourth - a fine volley. Messi then completed his hat-trick after a one-two with Suarez and the Uruguayan got in on the act as well with two late strikes to make it 7-0 and an identical win to the one inflicted upon Gary Neville's Valencia side in February.
In total, Messi ended the night with three goals and an assist; Neymar netted one and set up four; and Suarez scored two and provided the pass for another. It was spectacular stuff from the world's finest forward line.
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