The catastrophic objective of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and the last-minute winning goal of Luis Suarez saw Arsenal lose 2-1 in their final pre-season match against Barcelona.
Through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s drive into the top corner right inside the box, Arsenal took the lead in the Joan Gamper Trophy match at the Camp Nou.
The home side dominated much of the play, but in the absence of Captain Lionel Messi it was difficult to create clear-cut chances.
Before kick-off, Messi spoke to the Barca supporters and said he did not regret vowing he and his team-mates would do all they could to take the Champions League back to Catalonia ahead of last year’s Gamper.
This year, he ensured the club would once again compete this term for all the biggest prizes but sat the game out because of his participation in this summer’s Copa America.
Barcelona’s biggest signing of the summer Antoine Griezmann had an effort ruled out for outside and got a warm welcome from the 98,812-strong audience when he got off on 78 minutes.
They were level at that point as Maitland-Niles intercepted a loose ball into the Arsenal region and without looking, played a pass back to goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who had moved off his line.
Gunners defender Sokratis Papsatathopolous raced home frenzied to clear the ball away but to no avail – the goal reflected that of former Tottenham defender Kieran Trippier who inadvertently placed the ball past Hugo Lloris in a defeat at Stamford Bridge in March to Chelsea.
When Suarez struck the side netting and Gabriel Martinelli volley the ball just wide with ten minutes remaining at the other end, the match seemed to be heading for fines.
However, Suarez would have the final say after directing a precise volley past Leno to seal the win for the Blaugrana in the final minute.