Barcelona were unable to win the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup after losing 1-0 to Udinese in the triangular tournament held in Udine.
Before kick-off, the players of both teams observed a minute's silence in honour of the soul of Messi's father, who passed away following a struggle with illness.
Marca newspaper ran through the main highlights of a match Barcelona dominated almost from start to finish, giving their Italian opponents few chances.
Effectiveness was the problem. The Catalans struggled to reach the opponent's goal and threatened Udinese only twice. They paid dearly in the final minute when the Ivorian Bayo scored the winner.
Unlike the first match, Barcelona wanted to dominate through possession, passing the ball around calmly and wearing down opponents who were forced to chase.
Attacking depth was Hansi Flick's main headache. His opponents closed the spaces extremely well.
Set pieces offered the only early danger, Christensen rising for a header that flew past the goal.
Flick tried to change things after a quarter of an hour, throwing on five players at once. Among them was Bassiouo, who made his Barcelona debut, alongside Balde, who featured for the first time in pre-season.
The rhythm stayed the same, though. Barcelona held control but created little, and eventually finished with a line-up made up mostly of reserve team players.
Those minutes were among the best of the match for the youngsters. They pressed their opponents hard and offered plenty of promise, but they too lacked the goal.
Keeping Udinese quiet was Barcelona's finest achievement. Nottingham had carved out several chances in the previous match, yet Udinese barely troubled Szczesny.
Then came the sting. With everything pointing towards a penalty shootout, Curtis made a mistake that let Udinese break, and Bayo finished into the net to settle the match.