A 4-2 defeat at the hands of Barcelona was Tottenham Hotspur’s second straight defeat in the Champions League this season.
Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic getting first half goals, coupled with Lionel Messi’s second half brace, was enough for the Spanish champions to end their three match winless run.
Harry Kane and Erik Lamela found the back of the net, but that wasn’t sufficient to help the north London club avoid a defeat against the La Liga winners.
After the match, Mundo Deportivo gave their verdict on players from both sides who were in action at Wembley and the Catalan newspaper did not hold back while being critical about Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
Hugo Lloris returned to the starting lineup after recovering from an injury that kept him out for action for more than a month, and the goalkeeper’s error allowed Coutinho to open the scoring in the second minute. They claim it was ‘unusual’ and said it made ‘no sense’ for him to abandon his position.
Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sánchez were ‘helpless’ and ‘slow’ respectively, while Harry Winks was a ‘misfit’ in the midfield, which we’re not sure is a compliment or a criticism.
Regarding Winks, Mundo says: ‘The young English footballer suffered against a club that dominated in the midfield, often lost, without the conviction of the press, or to fix his position, exposed to the game of Messi.’
They claim Lucas Moura was disconnected: ‘Perhaps Pochettino’s most electric man, nullified his individual ability to overflow. The Brazilian lacked the ball, quite discontinuous…’
Moussa Sissoko replaced Son Heung-min in the 66th minute and according to the newspaper’s verdict, the Frenchman was inconsequential. ‘He did not give Tottenham the muscle or intensity they were looking for.’
Kieran Trippier, Harry Kane and Fernando Llorente received praise, while Mundo claims Lamela was ‘lucky’ because his strike for the goal came off Lenglet’s body and that made it difficult for Marc-André ter Stegen to save the shot. 
After two defeats against Inter Milan and Barcelona, Tottenham are third in their group and are points behind the Spanish and Italian clubs.
