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FC Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur went face to face in their final Champions League game of the year. With Group B still undecided on the day, both Inter and Tottenham had to try and win their games to boost their chances of qualifying. Inter was playing at home against PSV but for Tottenham, the task was near impossible, defeating a rampant Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Thankfully for the Spurs, Ernesto Valverde decided to rest his main players and fielded a near second-string team against Tottenham. With both qualification and first place guaranteed for the Blaugrana, this was a good opportunity to rotate the team.
18 year old, Juan Miranda earned his first Champions League call-up. Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, all started from the bench. Mauricio Pochettino fielded his best 11 in a must-win game, the only surprise being Kyle-Walker Peters' inclusion ahead of Ben Davies.
Barcelona took the lead through Ousmane Dembele in the 8th minute. Meanwhile, PSV also took the lead at San Siro through Hirving Lozano, keeping the second spot alive. Tottenham toiled hard to get a goal back but the relatively out-of-shape Barcelona defence held strong.
Tottenham's hopes were almost down the drain when Mauro Icardi equalized in Italy. With time running out, Spurs finally got their goal in the 85th minute through Lucas Moura, shifting the pointer towards the English side.
At the end of the game, both Spurs and Inter were tied on points and on goal difference. At last, it came to the away goals scored in head-to-head ties to separate both teams as Spurs went through.
Here are five talking points from the game.
#5 Tottenham got immensely lucky
At the start of the game, Tottenham were second favourites to go through to the knockout stages. They had to face Barcelona at Camp Nou, one of the toughest away fixtures. Inter, on the other hand, was facing PSV at home.
But in an unlikely turn of events, Inter failed to break the defensive line of PSV at home. Tottenham created chances but they did not convert any except one in the whole game. They were facing a relatively inexperienced Barcelona side without the attacking threat of Messi and Suarez. They attacked but still did not get past the defence that missed their general in Gerard Pique. Neither did they have to deal with Jordi Alba's pace in the wings.
But still, Tottenham had to sweat to get a goal. Harry Kane did not impress and neither did Son Heung Min. Their defence was wide open at times which did not get exposed due to the nerves of Miranda and at times a lack of decisiveness from Munir.
If Tottenham came up against a solid Barcelona team with all their first team players included, then they wouldn't have made it through. So, the lesson for Pochettino and his team, they need to improve a lot, both offensively and defensively. For all we know, Juventus, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and PSG are the possible opponents for Spurs in the RO16.
#4 A nervous night for Juan Miranda
Ernesto Valverde decided to rest two of his key players for the Spurs match, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez. A young Juan Miranda turned up in the left-back spot for Barcelona. A year ago, Miranda was promoted to the B team and this year he has been earning call-ups for Copa Del Rey games. Although the youngster has been impressive in Copa Del Rey games and the pre-season, Europe was too big a stage for him to steady his nerves.
He was not very composed and did not look as relaxed as we saw with Arthur. It wasn't a bad performance by him, he looked good for a B team player. But he missed many opportunities to run at the Tottenham defence or expose them with a single pass which Jordi Alba was obliged to do. When he received a pass, he spent a split-second more than Barcelona's liking which brought a stop to their attack and allowed Spurs to recover. At the defensive end, he was solid. Made two tackles, two interceptions and nobody dribbles past him as well.
He got a good match rating but he is still very young for the first team. But although he was nervy, he delivered against a big English side at the biggest stage of club football.
#3 Barcelona's young team is understandably disjointed
Ernesto Valverde threw in a cocktail against Tottenham. He fielded a team with both experienced players and youngsters which included a B team player, first team regulars and the first team bench players. Although the line-up did not look that bad on paper, on the pitch it was not a Barcelona team.
This was one of the few occasions when Barcelona had less possession than their opponent. The attacking that Barcelona was able to throw at the Spurs came largely from their two wingers, Dembele and Coutinho. No other player was much involved in the attacks including an underwhelming Munir who only got 19 touches of the ball.
The passing game of Barcelona was not on display, the midfield did not control the game as it should have done and the game was more end-to-end that total domination from Barcelona. The second half delivered far-more chances to Spurs that it did for Barcelona. Their defence despite the lack of playing together somehow held on as Spurs kept pushing for the goal.
There were far more opportunities for Barcelona to hit Spurs had the players put an eye up and looked. Due to overly committing towards attack, Spurs' defence was wide open and Messi's presence during the early stages of the second half could have exposed Spurs. The youngsters, Alena and Miranda could not do that when they had opportunities.
Still, this game is a win for Barcelona despite the draw. They rested their key players, they gave exposure to their bench players in the biggest stage and they gave Miranda a taste of the big leagues. This would do a world of wonder for the confidence of the players.
#2 Phillipe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele step up their game
As discussed previously both Dembele and Coutinho were the mischief-makers for the Spurs defence. Coutinho rejuvenated himself with his performance after a string of bad games at the left-wing which called for the change of his position. Valverde stuck with him at the left-wing and this time he delivered.
Although there were not many link-up plays from Barcelona, Coutinho showcased just how good an individual he is against Spurs. He ran at the defence time and again and took his trademark finesse shots to perfection. It was out of bad luck that he hit the post twice, once at the brink of half-time and one just before the Spurs goal. He also made 41 of his attempted 47 passes while also making a key pass. This was more of an individual show from the Brazilian but the team needs him to do this when they go back to build-up play. Barcelona is not a team of individuals.
Moving on, just how good is Ousmane Dembele? We know that Jadon Sancho can run at the defence like mad, we know that Guendouzi can run box-to-box for 90 minutes and we know that Mbappe can run with pace and also finish the play. But what about this French musketeer? This season he doesn't seem to be running out of gas. He has been involved directly in 9 goals in his last 9 games. He is scoring and assisting at will. Right foot, left foot, finesse shot, solo goal, any way you like it.
Against Spurs, he completed 3 dribbles, scored a marvellous solo goal, won two aerial duels and made two key passes. If this is Ousmane Dembele, who is reportedly not serious about his game, parties around at night, arrives late to training and plays video games, then what if he was disciplined?
Someone needs to mentor this kid to be more focused on his game. This is as big a potential as Kylian Mbappe and if he gets his game on track, France doesn't have to worry about their lead forwards for another decade.
#1 Jasper Cillessen is a world-class goalkeeper who we never talk about
Only a few players would be like Jasper Cillessen. He is such a great goalkeeper who could easily find starting spots at Chelsea, Tottenham, Juventus, Napoli and still he sticks with Barcelona. With Marc Andre Ter Stegen performing at such a high level, it is very tough for Cillessen to break into the first team. But this man has no problem being second-fiddle and acknowledges that the person between the sticks is the better man at the moment.
He only starts in Copa Del Rey games but he doesn't complain. Ernesto Valverde should give him more opportunities to start. There are games in the LaLiga where he can start and there would be in Europe too. Against teams like Valencia, Espanyol, Villarreal, there is no harm in starting the Dutch ahead of the German. It will give suitable rest to both while both are equally capable of guarding the sticks.
How good was Cillessen against Tottenham? He hasn't started in a Champions League game for a long time but still, there is no rust on his reflexes. Extremely composed between the sticks, has a good communication with his defence, what more do you need? He made six saves out of which three are of the topmost level.
The 1v1 save against Son Heung Min, the volley saved against Eriksen and the point-blank header saved at the goal line from Lucas Moura. The Dutch have nothing to worry about their keeper for the Nations League but the Blaugrana are extremely lucky to have this man at their disposal. That too as a substitute keeper.
