Tottenham’s trip to Barcelona may be a must-win match but the result isn’t everything for Spurs
A trip to the home of the defining team of the 21st century, a chance to pull off one of the most famous triumphs in the club’s history, a shot at a kind of immortality; there is every reason for Tottenham to savour this week's Champions League fixture against Barcelona.
The challenge is as steep as could be expected at this stage of the competition, though: match or better Inter Milan’s result at home to PSV Eindhoven – and given that the Italians need points and the Dutch are already condemned to finish last in Group B, that is likely to mean a win – or face relegation to the Europa League.
Spurs arrive in Catalonia in form and will take heart from the fact that this is a dead rubber for Barcelona.
The Spanish league leaders can lose and would still top the group, so they may rest first-team players and lack intensity or motivation – or so the thinking goes.
The only problem with that theory is that Barca don’t tend to lose these games. In eight of the last 10 seasons they had first place sewn up before matchday six.
Four times they won the final group game, three times they drew. The only defeat in that spell came in 2008, when a Shakhtar Donetsk side featuring Fernandinho and Willian won 3-2 at Camp Nou.
Wilting in big games
Tottenham have little in the way of pedigree in these matches to draw succour from.
For all that their record in Premier League games with domestic rivals under Mauricio Pochettino stands up to those of their Big Six counterparts, when the stakes have been highest, the heat really on, Spurs have tended to wilt.
Successive FA Cup semi-final defeats; Champions League eliminations at the hands of Monaco and Juventus, the latter despite having led in the second leg; Premier League title challenges that petered out with dropped points in crunch fixtures against Chelsea in 2016 and West Ham a year later; a League Cup final reverse in 2015 when only their second trophy of the millennium beckoned.
None of this bodes well for a must-win assignment at Barcelona.
Euro woes a wake-up call
But while victory on Tuesday evening would provide Tottenham with a night to remember and, in the case of their travelling support, an “I was there” occasion to tell the grandchildren about, whether Spurs actually progress to the last 16 may prove to be of limited significance.
The draw with PSV in Holland on 24 October left them with such a mountain to climb that, psychologically, elimination has been accepted as a highly likely outcome – and to a degree, digested and processed – ever since.
That they have even made the Barca match a decider has been a triumph in itself that has coincided with an upturn in their form.
Aside from a chaotic north London derby, which came after two draining fixtures, Spurs have been jolted into winning every game since their wake-up call at PSV, including the season high point of a 3-1 rout of Chelsea.
Domestic results should be priority
If there is a third horse in the title race then it is Tottenham. The closest challengers to leaders Liverpool and champions Manchester City, they have proven consistency year on year and have travelled the distance before, albeit falling at the final hurdle in Leicester’s annus mirabilis.
The Premier League is a more worthwhile target for Spurs – they have never made it past the last eight of the Champions League, a competition increasingly monopolised by the super clubs – and even if they fall short domestically there are rewards for doing so in the form of European qualification.
Much like England at this year’s World Cup, few expect Tottenham to go to Barcelona and win. As long as they aren’t embarrassed, failing to advance needn’t inflict any long-term damage.
On the other hand, any spirited, encouraging display should be taken as a further shot in the arm for the crucial Christmas period and the rest of the season – and there is every chance that will be of greater significance come May than a place in the last 16.