The miracle of Barcelona was not quite as Mauricio Pochettino would have imagined it at his most hopeful, although when the Tottenham Hotspur manager returned to the pitch after the game and saluted his club’s travelling fans, none of that will have mattered.
His team had not come to the Nou Camp and won, as only Liverpool have done in the history of English teams visiting this stadium, and they had not even faced Lionel Messi at his full, unstoppable best. They had fought and probed and hung on in there to grind down an opponent until, with five minutes of regulation time remaining, the substitute Lucas Moura scored the critical equaliser.
And, in the meantime, Spurs, the club that often wonders at its misfortune, that old curse of incompetence that once saw Champions League qualification squandered over a pre-match meal, were the beneficiaries of something often absent in their recent history: a stroke of luck. At San Siro, Inter Milan failed to beat PSV Eindhoven, the last-place team in Group B, and so when Moura’s equaliser levelled it on points, it was Spurs with the better head-to-head who finished second and qualified for the Champions League knockout stages.
Spurs fought their way back from an outrageous seventh minute goal from Ousmane Dembele and by the end of the night, with Messi, Sergio Busquets and Philippe Coutinho together on the pitch, Spurs had clocked 51 per cent possession against the masters of keep-ball.
They had some good fortune and Coutinho struck the post once in either half but good teams can be lucky teams too and, by the end, Spurs might even have won it had Danny Rose kept his composure to score a late chance. The team that took one point from their first three games have made it into the second round with just eight points – owing so much to Pochettino; the man who keeps the show on the road at a club that has been homeless for more than a year.
It must have been a great personal vindication for him, when afterwards he was asked by the Catalan media how it is he shows such faith in young players. There was a Champions League debut for Kyle Walker-Peters who recovered from his part in that early Dembele goal, and elsewhere the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Dele Alli were crucial.
He ended his press conference with a tribute to the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, and the board of a club that he said are working to open “the best stadium in the world”. It goes without saying that for owners, chairmen and chief executives, that kind of talk is music to the ears. A successful manager prepared to shoulder the responsibility in the bad times, and spr ead the credit in the good, is the kind of manager every hyper-scrutinised club board wants in charge.
Pochettino denied that he had ever described the task facing Spurs to qualify as “mission impossible” although, looking back, he got close enough after the draw with PSV on matchday three. From that moment he resisted the temptation to complain and blame others, he worked with the players at his disposal and now it seems that the new White Hart Lane may indeed see Champions League football this season after all. What a lesson to other coaches.
There were eight changes from the Barcelona team that dispatched Espanyol at the weekend and among those was Messi himself, the little maestro starting on the bench with his team already through to the knockout round.
He came on with 64 minutes played and barely touched the ball for the next 10. Although, later, there were moments when he spun and passed and moved this was Messi in third gear.
In the place of the likes of Gerard Pique, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba, came a team of relative youth and some inexperience. There was a Champions League debut for the academy graduate Carles Alena, a 20-year-old Catalan who stroked the ball around in the centre of midfield like many of his predecessors. At left-back, there was a start for the 18-year-old Juan Miranda, and in the first half Barcelona were well in control.
Coutinho, only a substitute in the win over Espanyol, started in attack; Ivan Rakitic played the first half and on the right wing was Dembele. The 21-year-old Frenchman is one month younger than Walker-Peters, who will never forget the moment that Moussa Sissoko’s ropy header came at him in the seventh minute.
On another day in another game, Walker-Peters would have brought the awkward bouncing ball down and distributed it without any trouble. But now he was in the crosshairs of Dembele who is mesmerisingly quick – so quick there is a kind of cruelty at the way in which he makes fast players look slow and slow players look static.
He did the same to Kyle Walker playing for France in Paris last year and now it was another Kyle Walker’s turn to suffer the same fate. Dembele first forced Walker-Peters off the ball, and then pushed it into an area where the Spurs man was subject to his full, raw pace.
Winks launched himself in front of what he thought was the shot, and was still sliding towards the corner flag, when Dembele switched it back onto his left foot and slotted it past Hugo Lloris.
There were two chances for Heung-min Son in the first half but it was not until the second that Spurs played higher up the pitch and asked a few more questions of Barcelona. They created openings and the best of those fell to Kane, who snatched at his shot and got under it, flaying it high and wide.
The game was flattening out, the home fans stirred briefly when Messi came on but Spurs sensed there was a goal to be had. Pochettino brought on Erik Lamela for Walker-Peters after the hour and then Moura and finally Fernando Llorente. The news of an equaliser for Inter came through. Spurs pushed on and it was Kane who made the goal, crossing from the left wing for Moura to complete the remarkable turnaround.
Quotes
Hugo Lloris:
It was difficult after that early goal to come back. We didn't win but we go through and that's the most important thing.
Harry Kane:
We had quite a few chances. The keeper made a few saves and it wasn't going in for us, but we carried on and kept pushing. We deserved at least a draw in this game and we're just buzzing to go through. A draw away to Barcelona isn't a bad result.
89 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 1
Oh my word, that would have been an unreal goal! Eriksen plays a blinder into Lamela who passes to Kane next to him. With eyes in the back of his head, he backheels it to Rose who is in a great position 12 yards from his goal, but he whacks his shot way, way over the bar. A terrible shot to end a glorious move.
77 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!!! Moura, unmarked in the middle of the box has to score but his header dribbles down onto his thigh and Cilleson dives to palm it away on the line. Moura then picks up the rebound and looks to curl the ball into the far corner, but slides it past the post. How have Spurs not scored???
74 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
Spurs have certainly created enough chances to score - five shots on target and seven off target so far. They are going to have to gamble now and that leaves them open at the back where Messi beats one man, beats another but is then tackled on the edge of the Spurs box.
55 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
Dembele has been quiet for a while but he has rockets in those boots when he decides to use them. The Frenchman glides past the Spurs defence before spotting Coutinho in space and squaring to the edge of the box centrally. The Brazilian takes his time and tries to pick his spot but his shot is charged down on its way to goal.
52 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
Back come Tottenham on the counter and suddenly Kane is in behind the Barcelona defence! Forward he goes, looming down on Cillessen's goal, but he thunders his shot miles over the bar under pressure from Lenglet. Was he fouled by the Barca centre-back? Not enough contact says the referee.
47 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
A bright start from Spurs as Eriksen knocks the ball in behind the defence to Sissoko down the right. The Frenchman has so much space to drive into but attempts a first-time ball to Kane, which doesn't reach his intended target. A poor choice.
Back come the visitors though as Alderweireld lofts a long-ball to Kane who controls beautifully and knocks down to Eriksen on the edge of the box. The Dane looks to curl into the far corner but Cillessen tips it wide at full stretch. Woof.
First half
A curious 45 minutes of football. One terrible Walker-Peters error and wonderfully-taken Dembele goal means Spurs are 1-0 down at the break. But they have grown into the match and are starting to create chances. Amazingly, as things stand this could all be meaningless because a PSV side who have nothing to play for are beating Inter 1-0 in Milan. So Spurs are still going through for the moment. Back soon.
Average touch position (weighted)
Shots on goal
45 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
HIT THE POST! Coutinho turns on the ball about five yards outside the box, gets his head down and hares towards goal. He is surrounded by defenders but none of them are brave enough to attempt a tackle and instead the former Liverpool man smashes a shot against the outside of the far post with Lloris rooted to the spot.
33 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
WHAT A CHANCE! Eriksen plays an early ball from the halfway line and suddenly it's Son v Vermaelen, which is no real competition. The South Korean skins his opposite man, drives into the box and only has Cillessen to beat but his attempt to guide the ball into the far post is halted by the Barca keeper's foot. A huge opportunity.
31 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
Vermaelen is penalised for a horrible studs-up tackle on Eriksen just outside the Barcelona penalty area on the left. The former Arsenal man is extremely lucky not to be booked for that. Kane looks as though he's going to have a crack from a tight angle... but he drills it low into the two-man wall. Eurgh.
30 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
Almost the equaliser! Sissoko plays Eriksen forward and suddenly there are acres to run into down the left. The Dane drags the defender towards him before slotting in Rose who whips a lovely ball across the face of goal where Son just fails to turn it goalwards with his slide.
27 min: Barcelona 1 Tottenham 0
Barcelona are very much dictating the flow of this match. That's to be expected, I suppose. It's the lack of opportunities in the final third that is most troubling for Spurs though and now Barca have a corner as Alena's long-range shot is deflected over. Munir heads it well wide.