Martino saw complete Barca

Tata Martino was content with Barcelona’s performance against Celtic and mused that Neymar will benefit from a break.

The Brazilian scored a hat-trick on Wednesday evening to inspire the Catalans to a 6-1 win to close out Group H with ease.

“It was one of the most complete games we’ve played. There was good pressure, intensity and we played well,” mused Coach Martino afterwards.

“It was almost for the full 90 minutes, until the final five, when the level was not high. We have become stronger not for the criticism but for the defeats. We have taken note of ourselves.

“Barcelona plays well with the ball and what we need is to recover our intensity. Here we also had to maintain our concentration, move when we had to and give depth when required.

“There is room for improvement, yes, because the opponent was already out of the competition and it occurs to me that the new challenge is to do this against the strong opponents who we will be facing now.

“Our level? Not much has changed my opinion from what we have seen here. I am very happy with the match, but we must consider the opposition.

“I hope the team continues to be strong and continues to play well. The reality is that these guys play very well.

“If we have a target it is because of this team and hopefully this can be a starting point.”

Martino was asked where the best position is for hat-trick hero Neymar.

“It depends on how he responds. What he did today was also play like a winger. Neymar’s footballing year has been very difficult, for what he did with Santos, his transfer, the best player at the Confederations Cup, and because of the travelling with his national team he did not have a preseason.

“For him, he is asking for a rest. We hope to give him that break. Hopefully after the holidays he will return well.

“The goal gave him confidence and from there he showed his repertoire. I’m amazed at his level of commitment to the team, it’s strange in players that are as good as him.”

Tags Celtic Martino Neymar
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