On Tuesday December 11,
Tottenham Hotspur not only achieved their qualification for the knockout stages
of the Champions League, but also broke a Barcelona record. Ousmane Dembele
gave Barcelona an early lead but the Spurs fought for and achieved an equalizer
five minutes to stoppage. Thanks to Inter Milan's defeat to PSV who had nothing
but pride to play for, Tottenham qualified for the last 16.
Barcelona, for the first
time since 2006, lost out in the ball possession battle during a Champions
League group game. Spurs recorded 52% while the significantly rotated Barcelona
team had 48%. An unusual midfield trio of Ivan Rakitic, Carles Alena and Arthur
Lenglet lacked cohesion as expected. Barcelona had already qualified and thus
named a younger, less experienced starting XI, with Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique
and Jordi Alba starting from the bench. Jasper Cillessen replaced Ter Stergen at the goal post and was exceptional, with a perfect performance. There was nothing he could do about Lucas Moura's late equalizer.
Aside the Champions League
matchday 6 game against Tottenham, Barcelona have dominated in ball possession
in all matches across all competitions this season.
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