Late strikes from Ansu Fati and Abde Ezzalzouli gave Barcelona a 4-2 win over Spurs in the Joan Gamper Trophy despite two goals from Oliver Skipp.
The last-gasp winners tore the wind out of Ange Postecoglou‘s side – and ruined Skipp’s new-found kingship – after what had been a reasonably encouraging evening for the Londoners.
Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring three minutes in before two goals from Skipp gave Spurs an unexpected lead going into half-time at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
But Barcelona were the better team for most of the match and when Ferran Torres netted with ten minutes to go, they looked most likely to go on and win.
Substitutes Fati and Ezzalzouli finished the job for Barca as Spurs’ resolute defence evaporated and Postecoglou will be left wondering quite how victory slipped from his grasp.
Robert Lewandowski’s early goal gave Barca the lead and was a harbinger of doom for Spurs
But two goals from Oliver Skipp gave Ange Postecoglou’s side an unlikely lead at the break
Spurs came into the game without Harry Kane, who stayed put in London amid his ongoing transfer whirlwind with Bayern Munich.
And indeed, in the opening period, they looked lost without the man who had put four past Shakhtar Donetsk last time out.
A dreadful start saw them fall behind 1-0 to Lewandowski’s close-range strike, assisted by Raphinha.
Minutes later Raphinha almost doubled the hosts’ lead when he blasted a shot over the bar.
Xavi’s men were firmly in control in the opening skirmishes of what was a combative game, with Oriol Romeu and Yves Bissouma trading blows in the heart of the midfield.
But Skipp gave Spurs a ray of hope 24 minutes in when he tapped in the equaliser after Giovanni Lo Celso hit the post, and he had them in dreamland after 37 minutes when he headed home from Ivan Perisic’s cross.
Make no mistake, glorified pre-season friendly though it may have been, this game mattered to Spurs, and they gave it a jolly good go.
Manor Solomon and Richarlison caused trouble with good chances either side of half-time but Postecoglou’s side quickly faded.
Ferran Torres scored Barca’s second after 80 minutes and set up a dramatic finish to the game
Spurs’ hopes took a blow when Ansu Fati restored Barca’s lead as stoppage time loomed
And those hopes were crushed when Ezzalzouli, right, scored a fourth as the visitors crumbled
A raft of changes on the hour from Barcelona changed the complexion of the game as Ezzalzouli and Marcos Alonso ran riot.
Ferran Torres’s equaliser after 80 minutes was well-worked, after 15-year-old Lamine Yamal danced his way down the right flank before teeing up his team-mate.
Ansu Fati’s 90th-minute goal was the deserved result of sustained pressure from the Catalans, with Alonso slipping him behind a hapless defence for a powerful finish.
Ezzalzouli’s goal in the dying embers of the game was the nail in the coffin and a merited reward for his buzzing presence since coming on.
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