Lamine Yamal is ready for the bright lights! Seven things we learned as Barcelona teenager turns Tottenham friendly around after sorry first-half display

'The new Lionel Messi'. Again. To play right wing at Barcelona is a curse of sorts. The Messi comparisons are inevitable, and Yamal was slapped with that tag well over a year ago. He made his debut last season, and looked dangerous in brief instances on the pitch.

This might just have been the game he pushed for regular inclusion, though. Barcelona were out of ideas when the winger came onto the pitch. They lacked dynamism and quality in the final third, and needed an injection of pace and trickery. And that's exactly what Yamal brought to the side.

The 16-year-old twisted and turned his way around Reguilon for 15 minutes, having a direct hand in all three second-half goals. Yes, he was playing against some tired legs, but he still looked frightening while operating against a player 10 years his senior.

There is a dangerous tendency for overreaction here, especially given the Barcelona badge and lineage at the position. For now, call it an encouraging start to what Barca fans will hope is a long career.

Is the latest iteration of the Neymar to Barcelona rumour to be taken seriously? That's unclear, but the interest is certainly there from the Paris Saint-Germain forward, who, not unreasonably, wants out of Parcs des Princes. This would be an expensive and messy investment for the Blaugrana, the kind of deal that would mean tearing up their transfer strategy for an aging, erratic player.

Barca might not need him, anyway. And they certainly don't when Raphinha is playing like he did on Tuesday. The winger set up Barcelona's first with a wonderful curled ball into Lewandowski, and looked dangerous all night. His pace and trickery was, at times, too much for a makeshift Spurs defence, while his diligence off the ball was also valuable.

Ansu Fati did his bit, too. The forward enjoyed a turn in form after Christmas, last year, and looked far more of a threat in the New Year. He only built on that here, operating through the middle and bagging the winner for the Blaugrana. Fati might not be in for a start every week — Raphinha probably did enough to justify consistent inclusion — but he certainly showed his value.

Given Yamal's performance, Ferran Torres' goals in pre-season and Vitor Roque's arrival to come in January, Xavi doesn't seem short of forward options, even with Ousmane Dembele on his to PSG. Signing a replacement such as Neymar, then, wouldn't be a wise move.

The Harry Kane transfer saga has been dragged out at this point. Bayern Munich clearly want him, while Spurs are predictably reluctant to sell. Club chairman Daniel Levy has always been a stickler in the market, and hasn't ditched his principles for the club's most valuable asset.

Kane looks more likely to stay in north London with every day that passes. Still, he wasn't in the squad on Tuesday, with Tottenham presumably looking to avoid injury so close to their Premier League opener against Brentford.

Richarlison started up front in his stead, but it was holding midfielder Skipp who grabbed the headlines. Largely a forgotten man last year, Skipp has been given a fair look this pre-season. And while he is not a regular goalscoring threat — and likely won't ever be — his double was valuable, if only to momentarily take Tottenham's minds away from the other homegrown player who has been making the headlines of late.

Xavi hasn't flexed his modified 4-4-2 this pre-season, instead opting to play something of a more traditional 4-3-3. That changed on Tuesday, though, with the manager reverting back to the system that helped Barca lock up the La Liga title in the first few months of 2023.

And it certainly had its moments. Alejandro Balde pushed up on the left, Pedri pulled the strings centrally, and Raphinha offered support to Lewandowski. But Oriol Romeu, a very much imperfect replacement for Sergio Busquets, looked uncertain — and lost his man in the build up for Tottenham's first. Gavi, meanwhile, picked up a rash booking within the first 15 minutes, and was lucky to avoid a sending off.

Notably, though, there was no place for Ilkay Gundogan. The German was presumably brought in as a sure-fire starter for Barca. However, he doesn't seem the right type of player to fit any of the midfield roles in the system. He can, and undoubtedly will, learn how to secure one of the starting spots here, and he did enjoy 30 effective minutes off the bench. Still, he might have to fight for his place in Xavi's side.

Ronald Araujo was arguably the best centre-back in Europe for much of last season, commanding a Barca backline that conceded just 20 goals in La Liga. But he did also struggle with injuries at times, and missed two months with an oblique issue.

And there was cause for concern Tuesday, as Araujo asked to be substituted with what appeared to be another problem. The source of his discomfort wasn't exactly clear, although a heavy challenge from Davinson Sanchez certainly wouldn't have helped.

It was further bad news for a Barca defence that is already suffering from injury issues. Andreas Christensen hasn't really been fit for the last month, while new signing Inigo Martinez is also out. Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia made up the centre-backpartnership after Araujo limped off, and looked an uncertain duo for an hour. Barcelona will hope that their star man is ready to return soon.

Despite their obvious improvements domestically during Xavi's time at the helm, Barca have been worryingly poor in Europe. Last season was particularly flagrant, with the Blaugrana winning only two of six Champions League group games, before being immediately knocked out of the Europa League by Manchester United.

It's a fair criticism to be levelled at Xavi. While his team is purpose-built to grind out victories against the low-blocks and possession-heavy sides in La Liga, they have trouble when opponents attack with speed. Tottenham weren't spellbinding here, but they certainly looked to hit on the break.

And it worked. Spurs had the better of the chances on the night, despite playing without Kane, Son and Dejan Kulusevski. Barcelona will play against better, more organised and more-impactful sides in the Champions League, and so if they struggled to put away this half-strength Tottenham, there might just be a worry or two down the line.

As for the visitors... Expectations were admittedly low here for Spurs. They went into this fixture with their second team, leaving out their entire backline and most of their attacking options, too.

That they managed to take a 2-1 lead, and convincingly outplay the La Liga champions at full strength, will undoubtedly please new manager Ange Postecoglu. This wasn't a flawless performance by any means. There were some mistakes, and with a stronger side in, Tottenham surely would have scored another two — and perhaps gone on to win this one.

Regardless, Spurs seem primed to be easier on the eye this season, and perhaps a far better outfit. They will find it hard to crack into an ever-improving top four, and might even struggle for fifth — which will likely earn a Champions League spot next year. But if this is a project, the signs suggest it could be a successful one.