Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the last-16 stage of the Champions League courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Barcelona in their final Group B clash on Tuesday night.
Lucas Moura's 85th-minute goal cancelled out a first-half Ousmane Dembele effort, and the point proved to be enough for Tottenham to advance to the next round due to the fact that Inter Milan were held at home by PSV Eindhoven.
Read how it all unfolded in Sports Mole's live minute-by-minute commentary of the action below.
Evening all and welcome to Sports Mole's live commentary of the Champions League clash between Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur from Camp Nou. Barcelona have already booked their spot in the round of 16 as winners of Group B. Tottenham, meanwhile, sit second in the section, level on seven points with third-placed Inter Milan. Spurs must match Inter's result against PSV Eindhoven tonight in order to advance to the next round of the competition. Stay tuned for the action!
The clash in London at the start of October was actually just the third time that Tottenham and Barcelona had locked horns. Their first meetings occurred during the 1981-1982 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with Barcelona recording a 2-1 aggregate win to make the final of the competition. Their clash at Camp Nou finished 1-0 to Barcelona, with Allan Simonsen scoring the only goal of the match.
Harry Kane and Erik Lamela were both on the scoresheet against Barcelona at Wembley, but Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic and Lionel Messi (2) scored the goals to help the Spanish champions record a 4-2 win. Can Tottenham pull off a huge result by winning at Camp Nou tonight?
Right, without further ado, let me bring you up-to-speed with the all-important team news. I can confirm that Barcelona are far, far from full strength tonight. Huge boost for Tottenham...
TEAMS!
BARCA: Cillessen; Semedo, Lenglet, Vermaelen, Miranda; Alena, Rakitic, Arthur; Coutinho, Munir, Dembele
SPURS: Lloris; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Winks, Sissoko; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane
Well then. Quite a few changes for Barcelona. As we found out yesterday, there is no Luis Suarez in the squad, with the Uruguay international rested as he nurses a knee problem. Lionel Messi is only on the bench, and the same can also be said for Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Arturo Vidal. Jasper Cillessen, Thomas Vermaelen and Munir El Haddadi get rare starts, as do youngsters Juan Miranda and Carles Alena, who have been tipped to become future first-team stars.
The Tottenham team, meanwhile, shows four changes from the one that started against Leicester City in the Premier League at the weekend. Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen both return, while there is a full Champions League debut for Kyle Walker-Peters at right-back. Danny Rose also replaces Ben Davies on the opposite side, and Lucas Moura is only on the bench.
So there we have it. The two teams are in, and we are just about 40 minutes from kickoff at Camp Nou. It is a huge night for Tottenham as they visit Camp Nou for just the second ever time.
Barcelona ensured that they would qualify from Group B as winners with a 2-0 success away to Roma last time out. On the same night, Tottenham beat Inter Milan 1-0 to keep their hopes of making the next round alive. The group, as can be seen in the image below, has Tottenham in second due to their superior head-to-head record over Inter, who host PSV tonight.
Tottenham need to better Inter's result in order to secure second position in the section. To be honest, it is unlikely that PSV will beat Inter in Italy, meaning that Tottenham will surely need to avoid defeat in this match if they are to progress to the knockout round of the tournament.
Barcelona have reached at least the quarter-finals of the Champions League in each of the last 11 years, but they famously lost to Italian side Roma in last season's final eight and have not actually won the competition since 2015. Indeed, the La Liga giants have had to sit back and watch rivals Real Madrid land three straight European crowns, which will have hurt.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 28 home games in the Champions League, meanwhile, which is a run that stretches back to September 2013. They have won all of their home group games in the last five editions, and have not lost any since 2009, which is some record.
Barcelona have also only lost two of their 33 home European matches with English opposition. They have won the last five, and seven of the last eight at Camp Nou, including a 3-0 victory over Chelsea in last season's round of 16, which completed a 4-1 aggregate success.
Ernesto Valverde's side have won each of their last four matches, meanwhile, including a 4-0 success away to Espanyol in La Liga at the weekend. The Spanish champions are currently top of La Liga, three points ahead of second-placed Sevilla after 15 matches of the 2018-19 campaign.
Tottenham, meanwhile, will enter tonight's match off the back of a 2-0 win over Leicester in the Premier League at the weekend. Mauricio Pochettino's side are currently third in the table, six points off leaders Liverpool, who are also in Champions League action against Napoli tonight.
Tottenham lost their first two Group B matches, going down 2-1 at Inter before suffering a 4-2 defeat to Barcelona. They were then held by PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, but have beaten PSV and Inter at Wembley in their last two fixtures to move into second on the head-to-head record.
Spurs have actually only won four of their last 17 European away matches, and this is just the fourth time that they have been present in the group stage of the Champions League. Last term, they reached the round of 16, but suffered a 4-3 aggregate defeat to Italian champions Juventus.
Tottenham might be the underdogs tonight, but they have won eight of their last nine matches in all competitions, the only exception being a 4-2 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League. Pochettino's side are certainly capable of harming this under-strength Barcelona tonight.
Tottenham have lost three and won none of their five away matches in Spain. They did pick up a 1-1 draw away to Real Madrid last season, however, and also beat Los Blancos 3-1 in the home fixture last term. Spurs have to believe that they can come to this stadium and win.
Just a reminder of the two teams for tonight's match...
BARCELONA (4-3-3): Cillessen; Semedo, Lenglet, Vermaelen, Miranda; Alena, Rakitic, Arthur; Coutinho, Munir, Dembele
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Winks, Sissoko; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane
Here we go then; both sets of players have joined us on the pitch ahead of kickoff at Camp Nou. Can Tottenham find a route past Barcelona tonight? Stay tuned with us to find out!
KICKOFF: Tottenham kick things off at Camp Nou...
... decent start from Tottenham in terms of position and attacking intent, but Barcelona have had the ball in the last 20 seconds or so, and they will build from defence through the midfield.
Smart football from Tottenham as Alli, Kane and Eriksen combine in the final third, but the ball breaks loose and Cillessen manages to gather. Good stuff from the away side there.
Miranda has had lots of the ball for Barcelona in the first four minutes; it is a huge night for the 18-year-old, and he looks very confident. Alena will also be hoping to impress tonight.
GOAL! BARCELONA 1-0 TOTTENHAM (DEMBELE)
Oh my goodness me. Barcelona make the breakthrough in the seventh minute, and it is all about Dembele! The Frenchman hunts down Walker-Peters before breaking into the Tottenham box and finding the back of the net with an excellent finish, having put Winks on the ground!
All Barcelona at the moment as they pass and probe in the final third of the field.
Dembele has had his off-the-field issues this season - and reportedly continues to have them - but the Frenchman is some talent. Incredible pace and decision-making in the final third.
CLOSE! Coutinho just misses the crossbar with a strike from outside the Tottenham box.
Decent spell of possession for Spurs in the last few minutes, but they are yet to threaten.
YELLOW CARD! Walker-Peters (Tottenham) is booked for a poor tackle on Miranda.
Barcelona are having a lot of the ball at the moment. A deep free kick comes into the Tottenham box and Munir flicks towards a sea of players, but Vertonghen makes a smart clearance.
Not too much to report in the last few minutes. Barcelona have the ball, but are not really threatening to score a second. Nothing much from Tottenham at the moment here.
Rose is fortunate to escape a yellow for hauling Semedo to the deck in a wide position.
Tottenham have a concern over Son as the attacker hits the deck and stays there.
Son is back on his feet and will continue. That little stoppage just gave Pochettino the chance to have a word with Winks. Still 1-0 Barcelona with 24 minutes on the clock at Camp Nou.
PSV have taken the lead against Inter! Huge! Tottenham would be through as it stands.
CLOSE! Alena sees a strike from distance deflected over the Tottenham crossbar.
CHANCE! Big chance for Tottenham as Rose finds space in a wide position before delivering a low cross into Son, but the attacker just fails to make contact. Big moment there.
Tottenham have a free kick in a dangerous area as Vermaelen brings Eriksen to the deck...
... Kane's effort is straight into the wall.
CHANCE! Huge chance for Tottenham as Son drives into the Barcelona box before looking to beat Cillessen, but the Barcelona goalkeeper makes an excellent save!
Much better from Tottenham in the last few minutes as they continue to threaten.
Little over 10 minutes of the first period remaining, and Tottenham are still behind, but have shown a lot of improvement over the last five minutes or so. Inter still trail to PSV in Milan.
Son has been Tottenham's best attacker in this first period, but Kane and Alli have been quiet.
SAVE! Comfortable save from Cillessen to keep out a strike from Son.
It will be interesting to see whether Barcelona introduce Messi in the second period. It is probably not worth the risk, but you can see the Argentine getting a run out at some point.
Kane has a shot blocked behind as Tottenham enjoy more good possession in the final third of the field. The Premier League club are the better team at the moment here.
Tottenham have unquestionably been the more dangerous team in the final 15 minutes of the first period but Dembele's seventh-minute goal separates the two teams at the moment.
SAVE! Comfortable save for Lloris to keep out a powerful strike from Rakitic.
OFF THE POST! Coutinho works some space in the final third before hitting the post with a low strike. Excellent stuff from the Brazilian, but the post comes to the away side's rescue here.
HALF TIME: BARCELONA 1-0 TOTTENHAM
So there we have it. The referee brings the first period to a close with Barcelona leading Tottenham 1-0 courtesy of an excellent solo goal from Dembele. Both teams have had opportunities to add to the scoring, but Dembele's strike stands at the half-time interval.
STATISTICS! Barcelona just shaded the possession in the first half with 53%, while they had six attempts, three of which were on target. Tottenham, meanwhile, hit the target with two of their four attempts. Just the one booking to report - Walker-Peters in the 15th minute of action.
BENCH WATCH! Tottenham have a number of attacking options on their bench tonight, with Lamela, Llorente and Lucas all capable of making a difference in the second period. Barcelona, meanwhile, have the likes of Messi, Busquets, Denis Suarez and Vidal in reserve. Not too bad!
KICKOFF: Barcelona resume the action here...
... BARCELONA SUB! Busquets replaces Rakitic at the break.
SAVE! Super save from Cillessen to keep out a strike from Eriksen, who looked to pick out the far corner. It has been a fast start to the second period from Tottenham.
Lloris does well to beat Munir to a through ball as Barcelona threaten on the break.
Messi has been sent to warm-up, which is not great news for Tottenham. The visitors are very much on the front foot at the moment as Alli and Eriksen both have powerful strikes blocked.
SHOT! Kane fires over the crossbar after breaking into the Barcelona box! Lenglet just about did enough to put the striker off-balance, and the ball landed in the stands.
Tottenham continue to dominate the ball as they pass and probe in the final third of the field. Barcelona are not really having any of this match at the moment, but they still lead.
Walker-Peters does really well to block a strike from Coutinho.
SAVE! Comfortable save for Cillessen to keep out a strike from Son, who never really got hold of the effort. Still 1-0 Barcelona with little over 30 minutes of football remaining here.
Tottenham are going to make a change here as Lamela receives his instructions. I am surprised that Lucas is not the first player coming off the away side's bench tonight.
TOTTENHAM SUB! Lamela replaces Walker-Peters.
Messi will soon enter the field for the Spanish champions.
BARCELONA SUB! Messi replaces Munir for Barcelona.
PSV are still beating Inter, which means that Tottenham qualify with a defeat as it stands.
The clock is starting to tick on here, and Tottenham have not had too many attacking moments since Messi entered the field. That said, Kane has just had a strike blocked by Vermaelen.
YELLOW CARD! Semedo (Barcelona) is booked for a poor tackle on Rose.
SAVE! Huge chance for Tottenham as Eriksen meets a deep cross from Rose, but Cillessen makes another wonderful save! Eriksen really should have levelled the scores.
TOTTENHAM SUB! Lucas replaces Son.
Inter have levelled the scores against PSV! As it stands, Tottenham are out.
SAVE! Another wonderful save from Cillessen to keep out a header from Lucas!
Coutinho attempts to release Denis Suarez inside the Tottenham box, but the pass is just too strong. Tottenham then break, but the move ends with a poor pass from Winks.
Little over 10 minutes of the second period remaining, and Barcelona still lead 1-0 here.
Sissoko breaks down the right before delivering low into the Barcelona box, but it breaks kindly for the home side and Cillessen is on hand to collect. Big moment for Tottenham there.
You just get the feeling that something dramatic is going to happen late on here.
TOTTENHAM SUB! Winks is replaced by Llorente.
GOAL! BARCELONA 1-1 TOTTENHAM (LUCAS)
Tottenham have done it! The Premier League side level the scores as Lucas converts a cross from Kane! Huge moment, but Tottenham are not quite there yet!
As it stands, Tottenham are going through, but that changes if Inter score a second.
Messi misses the target with a free kick from outside the box.
CHANCE! Rose fires a wonderful chance over the crossbar from close range!
We are into the first of four additional minutes at the end of the match here.
Not too much happening at the moment. All eyes on San Siro, where it is still 1-1.
FULL TIME: BARCELONA 1-1 TOTTENHAM
All over! Still playing in Milan...
... it is all done! Inter are held by PSV! As a result, the point is enough to send Tottenham into the knockout round of the competition as Group B runners-up. What an effort from the English team!
Some effort from Tottenham. The point takes them through! Thanks for joining Sports Mole for our live coverage once again. See you next time!
