Tottenham 2-4 Barcelona
by Kadeem Simmonds
at Wembley Stadium

EVERYONE has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Tottenham had a plan until they conceded inside two minutes.

They had a plan until Lionel Messi decided he wanted to do Lionel Messi things in the second half and put this game to bed.

The 4-2 scoreline flattered Barcelona, but, as this young Spurs side continues to get to grips with the Champions League, defeats like this can be turned into vital learning experiences.

For example, don’t let Barcelona score so early. It makes the task even harder than it was going to be. Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino alluded to this after the match.

When you are chasing a game for 88 minutes, space will naturally open up and Messi will exploit it. And boy he did.

When he is on this form, there’s no-one in the world better and all you can do is sit back and marvel at his exquisite skill.

Gliding across the Wembley turf like a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, the Argentinian was a joy to watch.

His defence-splitting pass after 70 seconds sent Hugo Lloris scrambling to the edge of his box for reasons unknown to the 80,000 plus inside the stadium.

It meant the pull-back to Phillipe Coutinho was easily converted into an empty net.

Barca doubled their lead when Coutinho’s miskick fell kindly to him and his pass to the edge of the box was acrobatically finished by Ivan Rakitic.

With Barca two goals up, Spurs got pushing and, after the break, cut the lead to one.

Messi had waltzed past the Spurs defence twice and hit the post twice.

The second time, Spurs quickly launched a counter-attack and Harry Kane found the bottom left-hand corner after Erik Lamela played him through. But Barca pulled ahead again.

Another pull-back across the box was first dummied by Coutinho and then Luis Suarez, allowing Messi to nonchalantly arrive and apply the calmest of finishes past Lloris.

He wouldn’t miss a third time.

It was 3-2 when Lamela found the back of the net via a deflection. His goal was deserved after putting in a stellar performance up until that point.

As Spurs went in search of the equaliser, the game became a frantic back and forth reminiscent of a rally between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in their pomp.

And in his pomp Messi surpasses those two in terms of skill and brilliance.

In the 90th minute, another pass across the box, another Suarez dummy, another Messi pass into the back of the net.

Tottenham’s plan to contain the maestro failed, but, to be honest, those in attendance and not cheering on Spurs were glad they were able to witness the magician that is Lionel Messi.