‘It was the best we have been’ claims Martino as Neymar nets treble and Barca batter Celtic

The Barcelona manager praised his side following a 6-1 win over Celtic on Wednesday also hailed Neymar after his hat trick, saying 'He always responds.'

Neymar scored Barcelona's third, fourth and fifth goals all within the span of 14 minutes on Wednesday night. Josep Lago / AFP

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino said his side produced their best display in his time in charge as they ensured top spot in Champions League Group H with a 6-1 thrashing of Celtic on Wednesday.

Gerard Pique opened the scoring for the hosts early on, but thereafter Neymar took centre stage as the Brazilian set up the second goal for Pedro Rodriguez before going onto score his first Barcelona hat-trick.

A deflected effort from Cristian Tello and a late consolation from Giorgios Samaras rounded off the scoring.

And Martino was delighted with how his side reacted to recent criticism following defeats away to Ajax and Athletic Bilbao.

“It was the best we have been in these four months in terms of the level of our play, our effectiveness and how we managed to maintain that level for the majority of the game. Apart from the last five minutes, we were excellent,” he said.

“Barcelona always play very well with the ball and what we needed was the intensity to win it back.

“Today, we had both the concentration and intensity to win it back high up the field. We moved the ball around when we need to and played more directly when we the move demanded it.”

In the absence of the injured Lionel Messi, the focus has been on Neymar to start producing the goalscoring form that persuaded Barca to spend 57 million euros (Dh286m) on him back in May.

Until Wednesday, the Brazilian had only netted five times in 20 games.

Martino insisted in his pre-match press conference that the goals would finally come, but warned against piling too much pressure on the 21 year old given the workload he has already had in 2013.

“He always responds whether he is playing on the wing, or, like today, through the middle.

“But we have to remember that Neymar has had a very difficult year given what he did at Santos, then his arrival in Barcelona, being the main player at the Confederations Cup, not having a pre-season, and then travelling so much with his national team.

“For him it is not halfway through the season but near the end and he needs to rest at some point.

“We hope to give him that rest and hopefully he will return in good shape after the winter break.”

Barca must now wait until December 16 to see who they will face in the knockout stages come February with English sides Manchester City and Arsenal appearing to be their most difficult potential opponents.

However, Martino wants his side to forget about the Champions League for a couple of months and concentrate on domestic matters in La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

“We need to see how we are in 60 days. The only thing we can do is prepare well. In the meantime we have other duties to take care of in the league and Copa del Rey.

“We have done what we needed to do in the Champions League and now we need to wait and see what happens.”