Brendan Rodgers: Celtic gave Barcelona too much respect

Despite that, Barca did lose their last group fixture 3-1 against Manchester City, and failure to win again this week could see Luis Enrique’s side slip to second in the group behind City this week.

“We have to try pretty much, (when they) bring their game to us, you have to take it in tight situations with two or three players and be able to play one-twos around them”.

This time, they simply must win to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages as they lie bottom of Group C, having eked out draws against Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Rodgers’ men fell behind on Wednesday when Neymar’s chipped pass found Messi and the Argentine fired home.

“We were good at the back and we got better as the game went on”. I was very pleased with the performance. We gave away disappointing goals at the end which put a shine on the scoreline.

“The first goal I was disappointed with, but the quality and speed of movement caught us out”.

“That’s the worst question I’ve probably been asked”, he said. I thought that Luis is brilliant at provoking defenders around the box.

“It was a key moment in the game”.

Sitting clear at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership, however, Celtic are odds-on to qualify for another shot at the Champions League next season and Rodgers insists they will be better prepared.

“He’s like a PlayStation player”, he said.

“He’s arguably the best player that’s ever played football, and when he plays in your team, he makes everyone else better. The important thing is that we get as many titles as possible”. “That is our ambition”.

Dembele was in prime position to score when he sent a weak header straight at Ter Stegen from six yards after a cross from James Forrest, who had replaced Scott Sinclair at the break.

The Parkhead side, however, remain unbeaten in Scotland with 34 out of 36 points in the Ladbrokes Premiership and now turn their attention to the Betfred Cup final against Aberdeen at Hampden Park on Sunday.

“We didn’t want to take any risks”, he said.