An outstanding goal from Ousmane Dembele was cancelled out by a late Lucas Moura strike as Barcelona played to a 1-1 draw with Tottenham in their UEFA Champions League Group B finale on Tuesday night at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.
Dembele handed the Catalonians an early lead with a breathtaking goal that started with a run from midfield, but Spurs would fight back with their Champions League lives on the line and get a late goal from Moura to book a spot in the next round with some help from PSV's 1-1 draw at Inter.
With Barcelona assured of a first-place finish in the group, manager Ernesto Valverde had the luxury of rotating his squad, starting with Jasper Cillessen getting a crack in goal in place of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Thomas Vermaelen came in for Gerard Pique at centre-back, while youngster Juan Miranda filled in for Jordi Alba at left-back. Arthur made a return to the midfield, while Carles Alena was also handed a start. Up top Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, paving the way for an attacking trio of Munir, Dembele and Philippe Coutinho.
With nothing to lose, Barcelona could play to their liking and they were greatly helped by a huge error by Kyle Walker-Peters to open the scoring. The Tottenham defender gifted a ball to Dembele at midfield and the Frenchman took full advantage, racing past Walker-Peters before roasting Harry Winks with a cut to his left and finishing past countryman Hugo Lloris for a 1-0 Barcelona lead.
The early score dazed Tottenham for a bit but soon the English side reacted and South Korea international Son Heung-min was in one-on-one with Cillessen to equalise, but the Dutch goalkeeper came up with a big kick-save to keep Spurs off the scoreboard.
There was some good fortune on Tottenham's side at the end of the half, as a fantastic solo play from Coutinho ended with the Brazilian striking the post.
Valverde made one change at the break, swapping off Rakitic for Sergio Busquets, but it was Tottenham who had the upper hand to start the second stanza and another massive save was required from Cillessen to stop a curling Christian Eriksen effort. That was followed by a penalty shout from Kane, who claimed he was pushed by Lenglet from behind in the area.
Spurs' comeback attempt got a lot more difficult shortly after the hour mark when Valverde summoned Messi off the bench for Munir. But it was a different Argentine who was wielding more influence as a substitute, as Erik Lamela brought an attacking spark to the London club.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was putting all his offensive chips on the table, and the introduction of Moura nearly paid off immediately as a header from the Brazilian looked goal-bound, but again Cillessen soared to make a stop.
After being spared by the post for the second time on a Coutinho shot, Tottenham finally got their breakthrough in the final minutes when Lamela fed Kane on the left and the cross from the England international met the foot of Moura, who converted from a few yards out for the 1-1 equaliser.
A late winner could still be had by either side and Spurs fans had to be holding their breath any time Messi had the ball at his feet, but they were spared any magic from the Argentine as things ended with a sharing of the points.
Match Sheet:
1.- Barcelona: Cillessen; Semedo, Vermaelen, Lenglet, Miranda; Rakitic (Busquets, min. 46), Alena, Arthur; Dembele (Denis Suarez, min. 76), Munir (Messi, min. 64), Coutinho.
1.- Tottenham: Lloris; Walker-Peters (Lamela, min. 61), Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Winks (Llorente, min. 83), Sissoko, Eriksen; Dele Alli, Son (Moura, min. 71), Kane.
Goals: 1-0, min. 7: Dembele; 1-1, min. 85: Moura
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia). Yellow Cards: Walker-Peters (Min. 16) for Tottenham, Semedo (Min. 69) for Barcelona
Red cards: None
Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 69.961