By Gareth Vincent
South Wales Evening Post

Swansea City got a masterclass from Barcelona's megastars last night before staging a spectacular revival to draw 3-3 with the Catalan giants' second string.

The most interesting calls saw Owain Tudur Jones picked ahead of Darren Pratley and Leon Britton in central midfield, while Andrea Orlandi got the vote on the left flank on his return to his former club.

Roberto Martinez's players watched Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi, Xavi and Co in training before taking the field against Barca's next generation.

Swansea were outplayed in the first 45 minutes and went in at the turnaround trailing 3-0 and staring down the barrel of a thrashing.

But a much-changed line-up fought their way back into the contest thanks to a Guillem Bauza double.

And remarkably, they snatched a late leveller through Febian Brandy after Bauza had seen red for two fouls.

"In a way watching the Barcelona first team train affected us in the first half because we lost our focus," Martinez said.

"But on the other hand seeing those players train is very, very positive. It's great for the boys to be pitchside watching the big names working on the same things we've been working on.

"After a disappointing first half, the boys showed mental strength when everything was against them. They found strength to fight back from 3-0 down against a side whose biggest strength is to keep the ball, and that's a huge plus."

For the first time in pre-season, Martinez had started with a side which looked close to one he might select when the competitive stuff gets underway at Charlton in 11 days' time.

Atletic, Barcelona's development side who play in the Spanish third tier, included only one man, goalkeeper Ruben Mino, who has played for the Catalan giants' first team.

But it soon became apparent that the side coached by former Spain star Luis Enrique was not short on talent.

Among the leading lights was Thiago Alcantara, an attacking midfielder recently linked with Chelsea whose dad, Mazinho, was one of three Brazil players who created the cradle celebration en route to the 1994 World Cup.

Alcantara and the rest sporting the famous maroon and blue colours would soon get the chance to practice their post-goal routines.

Alcantara almost created the opener when his back-heel found Ruben Rayos and his cross was headed onto the bar by Manuel Agudo.

Swansea escaped there, but they would soon be behind.

Tudur Jones and Gorka Pintado did force Mino into decent stops with a pair of long-rangers before Agudo played in Ruben Rochina for the opener.

With the Swansea rearguard flat-footed, Rochina raced down the inside left channel before steering a shot past Dorus de Vries.

In the shadow of the mighty Camp Nou, Swansea were fast discovering that Barcelona have a fair bit of strength in depth.

They were two down when Agudo tricked Alan Tate and pulled back for Rochina, who sidestepped the tourists' defence before drilling home from 15 yards.

Swansea's best move of the first half ended with Orlandi heading Tate's centre well over the top, but it was Barca who were dominating possession.

Martinez's men were working overtime trying to keep their young opponents at bay, and they were unlocked once more just before the interval.

It was a dazzling goal, Ruben Rayos cutting inside Marcos Painter and Ashley Williams before curling a precise shot into the top corner.

Messi appeared to watch the second period from the directors' box, and the brilliant Argentine saw Bauza make it 3-1 five minutes after the restart.

Ferrie Bodde's long ball was misjudged by the home defence and Bauza nipped in to slot coolly past substitute keeper Jordi Masip.

After a rash of changes on both sides at the break, Swansea were suddenly closing Barca down and competing.

And they were celebrating again just before the hour when Bauza, who once earned a living down the road at Espanyol, notched his 10th pre-season goal.

Tom Butler started the move, playing in Pintado for a shot which came back off the base of the post.

When Mark Gower smashed the rebound back into the danger area, the ball ricocheted kindly for Bauza to slot home from eight yards.

Swansea's revival was poetic justice of a kind in the face of Barca's tedious play-acting and squawking at the referee.

Bauza was denied a hat-trick when Masip saved his low shot before his night ended with a rare pre-season red card which could result in a one-match ban.

Yet the 10 men struck again two minutes from time when Butler stuck his head in the way of a wayward clearance and Brandy controlled the ball beautifully before blasting home from the edge of the box.

Rarely can there have been a more entertaining pre-season friendly.