Tottenham 2-4 Barcelona: Lionel Messi embarrasses English football again

Despite clawing back into the game, Barcelona proved to be too much for Spurs. Messi delivers another Messi performance as he scored twice in the win.

Barcelona headed into Wembley coming off three games in the league without a win. Manager Ernesto Valverde decided to make a few changes for this game as Ousmane Dembélé was benched, Arthur started in midfield, and Coutinho played on the left of the front three.

Valverde, and Barcelon, could not have dreamed of a better start. Within two minutes, Barcelona were up 1-0.

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Messi delivered a pass to Alba, a theme of the game, who found himself with plenty of space on the left. Hugo Lloris, surprisingly, came out of goal to cut him down. Alba passed back to Coutinho who shot into the back of the net past the attempts of Tottenham defenders.

The blaugrana doubled their lead in the 28th minute off an absolute stunner from Ivan Rakitic who leapt into the air to volley a pass from Coutinho into the post and in past the outstretched arm of Lloris.

Credit to Coutinho who kept the ball from going out after failing to control the pass from Luis Suarez. Barcelona went into the half leading 2-0 and it looked like a rout was in the cards.

Barcelona came out looking for the goal to finally put it away. In a span of a few minutes, Messi hit the post twice. After the second time, a long ball from Lloris found Harry Kane who turned Nelson Semedo inside out and cut the lead in half.

But it was Lionel Messi’s game and a few minutes later put Barcelona back ahead by two. The Messi-Alba connection struck again as Alba cut the ball back inside the box and Couthinho and Suarez with two dummies to leave the ball to Messi who gently slides the ball home.

Tottenham struck back as another lapse in defense allowed Erik Lamela a shot which deflected off of Clement Lenglet and past the arm of a diving Ter Stegen. Tottenham were back in the game once again.

For Barcelona, the remaining game was tight with Spurs taking control of the game looking for the equalizer.

Valverde finally made some changes introducing Rafinha for Arthur and later Vidal for Busquets. His team looked a bit more solid but not comfortable. With a few minutes left in regulation, Alba won a ball in Tottenham’s half and Suarez once again dummied a pass and Messi found himself alone in the middle who calmly placed the ball past Lloris. Messi with a brace and that’s game over.

Messi rightly takes the plaudits as he was Barcelona’s best player. But a special mention for Arthur who made his Champions League debut as a starter. He looked calm and poised in midfield never panicking when he received the ball despite being surrounded by Tottenham players. While the Xavi comparisons may be a bit much, his future looks promising.

If you’re Tottenham, the solace they can take is they were in the game despite missing the likes of Eriksen, Vertonghen, and Alli. That being said, zero points after two games is a cause for concern.

With the win, Barcelona are atop the group with six points. Tonight’s performance for Barcelona may have calmed some fears but there’s still work to be done for Ernesto Valverde’s men.