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Celtic’s Champions League ambitions were extinguished by Barcelona who produced a slick show in the Nou Camp.

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The Spanish side got off to a perfect opening when Hernandez Xavi flicked the ball over Artur Boruc and into the net after only two minutes.

The Scots struggled to impose themselves but gradually improved without imposing any major pressure.

Boruc thwarted Ronaldinho and Deco while Celtic’s best effort by Shunsuke Nakamura was saved By Victor Valdes.

Barcelona made no mistake in accounting for the other half of Glasgow’s Old Firm, with a Nou Camp win already over Rangers earlier in the same competition.

The last match between the teams at the famous venue was a 1-1 Champions League draw in November 2004.

Celtic, on this occasion, were requiring their first away victory in the competition in order to progress, but faced the sternest of tasks to pull back a 3-2 deficit from the first leg in Glasgow.

Scott McDonald, the Hoops’ top scorer, was manager Gordon Strachan’s surprise omission as he opted for a conservative formation, with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in a lone striker’s role while Paul Hartley appeared in a five-man midfield.

Mark Wilson, recently recovered from a knee operation, replaced cup-tied right-back Andreas Hinkel for his first start since last September.

Lionel Messi returned to the Barca line-up after starting on the bench for the 4-2 La Liga defeat by Atletico Madrid at the weekend.