FC Barcelona 4-2 Spurs | Ange’s verdict: “The players gave everything” | OneFootball

Ange Postecoglou was delighted with how the players responded to going behind early to push Barcelona all the way in our final pre-season match at the Olympic Stadium, Montjuic on Tuesday night.

Robert Lewandowski struck after just three minutes of this encounter for Barca’s prestigious Joan Gamper Trophy but rather than buckle under the sort of pressure the La Liga champions are renowned for, particularly at home, we fought back, levelled, got in front and led until the 80th minute, when Xavi’s team found another gear and three goals to run out 4-2 winners.

Oliver Skipp was the man to do the damage to the home side. Having picked himself up from a rash challenge early on, the midfielder, noticeably in attacking areas more under Ange, was in the right place at the right time to plant home the rebound after Gio Lo Celso hit the post on 24 minutes, and then darted in late to power home a header from Ivan Perisic’s cross for 2-1 13 minutes later.

Further chances came and went and it was even in the second half until Barcelona clicked again in the last 10 minutes. Ferran Torres levelled, Ansu Fati made it 3-2 in the 90th minute and Abdessamad Ezzalouli wrapped it up with the last kick of the game.

Speaking pitchside to SPURSPLAY, Ange told us: “The first half was good, really good. Barca got the jump on us with that first goal, but the lads reacted really well, our football was good, we pressed really aggressively, and you could see they were uncomfortable with that.

“I was really pleased, but we ran out of legs a little in the second half. To be fair to the boys, they gave everything, you could see that some of the boys couldn’t even run at the end. It was my decision not to make too many substitutions today, and to leave guys at home.

“It was still a worthwhile exercise for us, just disappointed we didn’t get the win in the end because the effort of the lads for 70, 75 minutes was great, but they got on top of us in the last 10 or so.

“The key for us, again, you could see that quite a few of the lads need match minutes, so to have tonight’s game and to get meaningful match minutes against a top opponent was good, and some of the performances were strong.

“Like we said at the weekend, you can see the intent is there from the players. There are still areas we need to improve, but the intent to try and play our football is there.”

Watch - Ange post-Barca