Barca victorious at Wembley despite Spurs launching comeback

An eagerly-anticipated affair in group B for both sets of fans, there was respect between both managers ahead of the game, with Ernesto Valverde and Mauricio Pochettino both singing each other's praises. 

Both starting lineups showed evidence of rotation - though in Spurs' case, it was more to do with injuries. Dembélé did not make the cut for the 'Blaugrana' side, while Dembele, Alli, Vertonghen and Eriksen were absent for the London outfit. 

The game began as a real baptism of fire - Philippe Coutinho gave Barça the lead within just two minutes at Wembley. The move began where most do for the Catalan giants - with Argentine magician Lionel Messi. The playmaker found Jordi Alba with an enticing through ball - albeit too enticing for Spurs' goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who, as a result, found himself out of position. Alba then tapped to Coutinho before Lloris could react, and the Brazilian finished into an empty net. 

The action was largely muted after the opener, until World Cup finalist Ivan Rakitic doubled the visitors' advantage with an absolute stunner. Messi played in Suarez, in turn giving it to Coutinho, who pulled the ball back to the Croatian, who flew in the air hitting absolute beauty on the bounce from 25 yards which crashed in via the inside of the post - a sublime effort, even gaining applause form sections of the Tottenham crowd. 

Ernesto Valverde's side went into the break in complete control, while Pochettino and Spurs were in dire need of a change to proceedings. 

And a change was exactly what happened. Though, this change was more of a change in tempo to the game. Messi struck the post twice within four minutes after two of his trademark marauding runs, before Harry Kane struck Spurs back into the game. The England international proved he is up there with the world's best as he turned Semedo inside-out before curling a low strike into the bottom corner and giving Ter Stegen no chance. 

Just when Spurs thought they were back in the game, Barça struck again as Messi restored their two-goal advantage. The Argentine received Jordi Alba's cut-back which was nicely dummied by teammate Luis Suárez, and placed it neatly inside the side-netting. 

The madness did not end there, however, as Erik Lamela's fantastic curling strike from the edge of the box beat Ter Stegen and spurred on the Wembley crowd to back their side. 

 

3 de octubre de 2018

Both Harry Kane and Lucas Moura then came close as Tottenham looked for an equaliser, though Ter Stegen and the Barcelona defence stood firm to keep out Pochettino's men. 

Leo Messi was not yet done, as Barcelona broke through and netted a fourth. Jordi Alba intercepted a loose ball as Spurs attempted to play out from the back, and the Spaniard's pass found Luis Suárez. The Uruguayan knew exactly where Messi is positioned, and dummied once more to fool Davinson Sanchez. Messi received the ball unmarked in the penalty area and, undoubtedly, finished coolly past French international Lloris, sending him the wrong way entirely. 

At the end, the Catalan giants were able to just about able to hold on and moved back to the top of group B on six points. For Spurs however, even after a relatively successful attacking performance without Dele Alli and Eriksen, it looks a difficult task for them to make the knockout stages after two straight losses. 

 

3 de octubre de 2018