Barcelona 3-0 BATE Borisov: Deadly duo Neymar and Luis Suarez continue fine goalscoring form in the absence of Lionel Messi

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Barcelona beat BATE Borisov 3-0 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday as hosts all but sealed their place in the last-16
Brazil international Neymar gave the home side the lead after 30 minutes, converting from the penalty spot
Luis Suarez doubled Barcelona's lead in the second half when Neymar turned provider to set up the Uruguayan

Published: 16:36 EST, 4 November 2015 | Updated: 06:17 EST, 5 November 2015

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Neymar and Luis Suarez were at it again at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night with the Brazilian scoring twice and the Uruguayan once in a comfortable win over BATE Borisov.

Lionel Messi is almost definitely out of the November 21 Clasico but with Suarez and Neymar in this sort of goalscoring form the team might just make it through until his return.

Barcelona’s last 17 goals have all been scored by Neymar and Suarez and against BATE the former rolled in a penalty for the first and then he made the second for Suarez and scored the third from the former Liverpool striker's pass.

Barcelona forward Neymar heads over to Luis Suarez to celebrate with his team-mate after Uruguayan set him up to make it 3-0

Luis Suarez celebrates after grabbing Barcelona's second of the night against Bate Borisov at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night

Suarez toe pokes the ball past the BATE goalkeeper to make it 2-0 after receiving a pass from strike partner Neymar

Barcelona forward Neymar sends teh goalkeeper the worng way as he calmly puts the home side ahead from the penalty spot

The 23-year-old Brazil international jumps for joy as he celebrates his 10th Barcelona goal of the season on Wednesday night

Crocked Barcelona forward Lionel Messi watched from the sidelines as he continues to recover from a knee injury

MATCH FACTS, GROUP E TABLE AND MATCH ZONE

BARCELONA XI: Ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Mascherano, Vermaelen, Adriano; Busquets (Gumbau 76), Rakitic (Munir 20), Sergi Roberto; Iniesta (Bartra 68), Neymar, Suarez

Subs not used: Bravo, Pique, Jordi Alba, Sandro

Scorers: Neymar 30, 83, Suarez 60

Booked: Dani Alves

BATE BORISOV XI: Chernik; Polyakov, Gaiduchik, Milunovic, Mladenovic; A.Volodko (Nikolic 68), Yablonski; Stasevich, Gordeichuk, M.Volodko (Ryas 78); Mozolevski (Hleb 61)

Subs not used: Soroko, Dubra, Karnitskiy, Jevtic

Booked: Mladenovic, Mozolevski, Nikolic

Referee: Istvan Vad II

The victory leaves Barcelona five points clear at the top of Group E needing just one point to ensure qualification to the knockout stage

Remaining Group E fixtures: BATE vs Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona vs Roma, Bayer Leverkusen vs Barcelona, Roma vs BATE

Luis Suarez tees up Neymar for the third. Click here for more from Match Zone

Neymar has 16 goals in the Champions League – two more than Ronaldinho. And Suarez with 37 goals in 59 games for Barca in all competitions is just one goal behind Diego Maradona and two behind Romario. Maradona scored 38 goals in 58 games and Romario 39 in 66 matches.

Three of the club’s most famous forwards are seeing their career numbers fade in the face of two-thirds of the current front-three. In Messi’s absence Suarez and Neymar are re-writing the club’s record books.

Before the game started Uefa’s anthem was whistled by Barcelona fans. They are upset at two fines imposed for displaying the ‘Estelada’ Catalan Independence flag at last season's Champions League final and this season against Bayer Leverkusen. The flag is considered by Uefa to be a political symbol.

There were more Esteladas than ever inside the stadium on Wednesday and the club had draped a huge 'Respect' Banner from the main stand. Uefa delegate Karl-Erik Nilsson was at the Camp Nou photographing the display of defiance and Uefa will now have to decide whether to issue a third fine.

Barcelona supporters display pro-Catalan independence flags ahead of kick-off at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night

Barcelona and BATE Borisov line up before the Group E Champions League clash as supporters unfurl a respect flag in the background

Brazil forward Neymar bursts through two BATA Borisov defenders as he looks to create a shooting chance on the edge of the box

The Barcelona star continues his run and bares down on goal but BATE goalkeeper Sergey Chernik races off his line to deny Neymar

Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano slides in to win possession from Mikhail Gordeichuk during the first half on Wednesday nigth

Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen had to be alert to keep out a low effort from BATE midfielder Igor Stasevich

On the pitch Neymar and Suarez continue to be the standard bearers. They almost combined for the first when Neymar played a pass through to Suarez but he shot wide.

Neymar then won a free-kick when Nemanja Milunovic ended his run across the face of the penalty area. He took the set-piece himself but blazed it over.

BATE won a free-kick on the edge of the Barca area after Vermaelen fouled Mikhail Gordeichuk and Marc-Andre ter Stegen had to save Igor Stasevich's set-piece.

Having not taken their early chances Barcelona were dealt an injury blow with Ivan Rakitic hobbling off to be replaced by Munir who then won the penalty for the first goal. He cut in from the right touchline and passed to Suarez. When he gave it back to Munir he was bundled over by Filip Mladenovic and referee Istvan Vad pointed to the spot.

Munir El Haddadi sits on the turf after being bundled over in the penalty area by BATE defender Filip Mladenovic yielding a spot kick

Neymar takes a one step run-up before coolly slotting his effort from 12 yards to the bottom left corner sending to keeper the wrong way

Neymar celebrates his strike from the spot that put the home side ahead on the half hour mark at the Nou Camp

Neymar has taken Barcelona’s last two penalties and scored them both without a run-up. He stared down Sergei Chernik and when the BATE keeper blinked first and dived to his left, Neymar rolled the ball to his right for 1-0.

The biggest cheer of the first half came when Ter Stegen charged to the corner flag to sweep up a loose ball and found himself under pressure from Dmitri Mozolevski. He didn’t panic hoofing it out of play, but instead dribbled it forward and found a team-mate. That and Neymar’s laid-back spot kick summed up Barca’s first half dominance.

There was some second-half showboating from Iniesta and Busquets before the second goal came. Busquets started the move as he broke away with the ball. He looked to have picked the wrong option ignoring Munir in acres of space on the right to play in Neymar down the left. The Brazilian crossed to Suarez and after two quick touches to get the ball out of his feet he used his third touch to shoot past Chernik. It was his eighth goal in his last nine games.

He turned provider again with the third of the night unselfishly crossing for Neymar. The win had been sealed but Roma's late goal to claim a 3-2 victory against Bayer Leverkusen ensured qualification was not. ‘Batman’ Messi might be injured but the Dynamic Duo have never been better.