No need for a Pep talk as Barca run riot

WITH the sun splitting the skies and the temperature gauge still hitting the 20s at kick-off time, it was more like a Catalan summer night than mid-July in Edinburgh – and Barcelona looked right at home as they proved too hot for Hibs to handle.

Friendlies are never usually anything to write home about, with players more interested in avoiding injuries than taking the honours in what amount to no more than meaningless warm-up matches. But this was Pep Guardiola's first game in charge of the Spanish giants since taking over from Frank Rijkaard last month and, as a result, there was a real edge to their play.

Each and every one of the 21 men he used at Murrayfield knows they have to push themselves whilst in Scotland if they want to impress their new manager and claim a place in his starting line-up for their La Liga and Champions League campaigns.

And they gave him plenty of food for thought last night, taking complete control of the game, rattling home four before the half-time whistle had even gone and adding another two after the break.

It wasn't quite the party atmosphere the Hibs fans were hoping for but very few teams in Europe can live with Barca when they're in this kind of mood.

There had been fears that less than 15,000 would turn out to see the Catalans' return to Scotland but, while it was still a disappointing figure for match organisers, more than 23,000 supporters were there to see the Easter Road side given a masterclass in how football should be played.

That was around half the figure who watched last season's friendly against Hearts, but much of the reason for that lies with the fact the Nou Camp side played in Scotland on four different occasions last season.

The superstars faced the Jambos and Dundee United in pre-season friendlies before taking on Celtic and Rangers in the Champions League in the previous 12 months, meaning that the novelty factor had somewhat worn off for the neutrals.

The hard core of Hibs fans who went to the effort of backing their side did so to fine effect despite their limited numbers, but there was little for them to cheer.

There were no fireworks this time. The match organisers no doubt learned their lesson from the last time at Murrayfield when smoke from the pyrotechnics display meant that kick-off had to be delayed. But fears any that Barca might be missing some of their magic following the departure of Ronaldinho to AC Milan in the summer proved unfounded as Lionel Messi stepped up and stole the show in his absence.

A double from Eidur Gudjohnsen and goals from the Argentinean Pedro, Bojan and Yaya Toure put them so far out of reach that they could have been back at the Nou Camp by full-time and no-one could have complained. With less than 70 minutes gone the Catalan giants could even afford to have swapped their entire team over, with the exception of new signing Gerard Pique although, to be fair to Hibs, there wasn't one single unused substitute by the end of the game.

But when Yaya Toure rounded off the scoring one hack observed that it was getting just a little bit Messi ... and who could argue with him?

They racked up six goals with ease and no-one could have grudged them if they had managed to reach double figures.

That was without the likes of Carles Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta, who didn't even rate a mention on the team sheet as they were given extra time off after their involvement in Spain's Euro 2008 victory and only arrived in Scotland on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite that, Guardiola's side stuck to their word and fielded a strong line-up, Daniel Alves and Gerard Pique made their debuts for Barcelona from the start, while fellow summer signings Martin Caceres, Alexander Hleb and Seydou Keita started on the bench.

Each and every one of Barca's goals was a thing of beauty, although the Hibs supporters night not have seen it that way.

If there was an element of fortune about the opener, when a clearance from Chris Hogg landed straight at the feet of Gudjohnsen, then the build-up to the third goal was quite simply breathtaking.

Alves played a brilliant one-two with Messi on the edge of the box, sending the Argentinean through with a cheeky back-heel and he picked out Thierry Henry, who was haring into the box to his left. The former Arsenal striker looked back to his brilliant best at Murrayfield and set up Gudjohnsen for his second of the evening, the effort taking a deflection off the unfortunate Hogg on its way into the back of the net.

There will be a few sore heads in Leith this morning as supporters pick over the debris of last night's hammering.

No matter the outcome at the end of the 90 minutes though, Paatelainen believes his side will have learned valuable lessons over the past few weeks.

His team have had three games against European opposition in the last month and he will no doubt have a clearer picture in his mind as to who will make up his starting 11 when the SPL campaign gets underway in a couple of weeks' time.

The domestic opener against Kilmarnock on August 9 may not seem quite as appealing after games against Barcelona, Middlesbrough and Wigan, but at least Hibs won't be making such an exhibition of themselves at Rugby Park.