Both sides had genuine goalscoring opportunities in the first 40 seconds of the match, and though the relentless pace continued throughout the early stages, it was more akin to a game of pinball between the two sets of players.
Ex-Barça man Ferran Jutglà blazed over when one-on-one with Joan García, before the hosts were dealt a blow when João Cancelo was unable to continue with only 20 minutes on the clock.
Celta took every chance to attack, and by the 30-minute mark, Barça still hadn’t managed a shot on target.
Each time the likes of Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres got into a goalscoring position, they were swiftly closed down, until the former burst into the area and, after being upended by Yoel Lago, buried the resulting penalty into the bottom corner for his 16th league goal of the season.
Oddly, it was his last action of the match, though it wasn’t immediately clear how he had injured himself.
An unrelated delay meant the official didn’t whistle for half time until the 68th minute, but that didn’t stop the visitors from flying out of the blocks after the interval, with Hugo Álvarez particularly industrious.
However, Barça soon got into their stride, and Torres smashed home an incredible volley from an exquisite Pedri cross, only to see it disallowed after a VAR review.
To their credit, Celta continued playing on the front foot, and this affected Barça’s fluency each time they attempted to get forward.
The introduction of Frenkie de Jong appeared to give the hosts some fresh impetus, but they were still finding it difficult to work Celta goalkeeper, Ionuț Radu.
It mattered not, however, and the result sees Barça extend their winning streak in LaLiga to eight matches, and is a sixth H2H unbeaten against the Galicians. Just a second defeat in 13 away trips for Celta leaves them in seventh position.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona)