Barcelona are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League following a 1-0 win over Celtic.
Xavi strike ends Celtic's Champions League dream
Barcelona are through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League following a 1-0 win over Celtic at Camp Nou.
The Bhoys were always up against it following a 3-2 defeat to Barca in the first leg at Parkhead and manager Gordon Strachan was desperate for his charges to get the first goal.
However, the visitors made a disastrously slow start to the game with Xavi flicking home over Artur Boruc within three minutes from Sylvinho's cross to give the visitors a mountain the climb.
Despite dominating the remainder of the half Barca failed to add to their lead, although it mattered little as it was Celtic who needed three goals for a miracle turnaround.
Celtic rarely tested Victor Valdes in the Barca goal in the second half as Frank Rijkaard's side coasted home in the closing stages to secure a 4-2 aggregate victory.
A far from full Nou Camp witnessed the rampant home side take the lead in the third minute after playmaker Xavi fed Ronaldinho on the left-hand side of the Celtic penalty area.
The Brazilian flicked the ball on to the overlapping Sylvinho and when he cut the ball back, he found that Xavi had continued his run to flick the ball past Hoops keeper Boruc.
Swarmed forward
As Barca swarmed forward relentlessly, Ronaldinho drove a shot in from 16 yards which Boruc spilled for a fruitless corner before Samuel Eto'o chested a Sylvinho cross wide of the near post from close range.
The home side were slicker in all departments and made the Scottish champions chase around so much that half a dozen players took advantage of Lionel Messi receiving treatment after a foul by Lee Naylor to take in water while receiving instructions from Strachan.
On the half hour mark the unlikely figure of Carles Puyol stole in to the Celtic penalty area to latch on to Ronaldinho's reverse pass but Boruc was able to push the Barcelona skipper's attempted lob over the bar.
Messi was taken off weeping in frustration with what looked like a hamstring injury after 35 minutes but in substitute Thierry Henry, the home side had a more than capable replacement as the Catalan side cruised all the way to the half-time whistle.
Celtic midfielder Massimo Donati, guilty of several misplaced passes in the first half, was replaced by Evander Sno for the start of the second period.
The Dutchman's first contribution was to foul Deco after being nutmegged by the Portugal international, his second was to release Scott Brown on the right from which Celtic won their first corner.
However, no threat to Barca keeper Valdes ensued from Shunsuke Nakamura's cross and in comparison to the whirlwind start to the game, a more subdued encounter followed with Celtic working their way into the game.
Under pressure
In the 55th minute Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed an Aiden McGeady cross past the post under pressure from Puyol before he was replaced by Georgios Samaras.
However, Ronaldinho exploded into action again on the hour mark when he played a one-two with Eto'o before forcing Boruc in to a fine save with his volley from the edge of the box.
Deco was next to test Boruc, the Poland international diving low to his left post to push the ball away for another corner as Celtic endured another spell of pressure.
Eto'o completely missed a cross from crusading right-back Gianluca Zambrotta only 12 yards from goal when he had beaten the Celtic offside trap.
The Barca striker was then denied by a crucial block from Parkhead captain Stephen McManus when he shaped to turn Henry's cross in from around six yards out.
In the final minute Boruc was again called in to action when he had to beat away a powerful strike from substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen who had replaced Xavi, seconds before Valdes pulled off a great save from Nakamura at the other end.
