LIONEL MESSI has been passed fit to play against Celtic after suffering an injury scare in a historic match for Barcelona.

The Catalan giants cruised to a 3-1 win over Celta Vigo to make their current run of form their best start to a season since the club began 113 years ago – having collected 28 points out of 30 so far this term.

Barca boss Tito Vilanova has revealed that influential defender Gerard Pique could also be back for the Parkhead showdown.

The club lost fellow-defender Adriano to a torn groin muscle that will sideline him for the next three weeks, and suffered a major scare when Messi sunk to the turf clutching a knee.

Messi was given the all-clear to play, however, after his partner gave birth to his first child just before the match.

Vilanova explained: "Messi is fine. He has only suffered a blow on his knee – at first, we were concerned he had twisted his knee.

"Before the game, Messi spoke to me and told me he really wanted to play and that was all that mattered.

"He hadn't slept much, which was a concern. But the important thing was that he showed he had the desire to play."

Elsewhere in the build-up to Group G's latest round of Champions League matches, Benfica won their fourth league game in a row to go level on points with Porto at the top of the table, while Spartak Moscow recorded a resounding 5-0 victory away to Krylya Sovetov.