Luis Suarez struck twice in the second half as Barcelona came from a goal down to beat Inter Milan 2-1 in the teams' Champions League clash at Camp Nou on Wednesday night.
Lionel Messi returned to the starting line-up for Barca after an adductor problem, but it was another Argentine who made an immediate impact on the night.
Inter’s Lautaro Martinez stunned the Catalans with an opening goal inside three minutes as he ran onto a pass from midfield, held off the challenge of Clement Lenglet and slid a low shot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen with his left foot.
The goal rattled Barca and Ernesto Valverde’s side struggled to find spaces against Antonio Conte’s well-drilled defence.
Barca had more of the ball, but Inter continued to look dangerous on the break and Martinez could have made it 2-0 later in the half, his touch too heavy when he was one on one with Ter Stegen.
Antonio Candreva also had the ball in the net, but the Inter midfielder was way offside on the right when the ball was played and his strike did not count.
Alexis Sanchez then headed wide and there were whistles from the home fans as Barca’s defence looked all at sea.
There were also some tepid jeers at the other end as Suarez sent a tame shot straight at Samir Handanovic from distance.
But the Uruguayan would go on to turn the game on its head in the second half.
Again, Inter started well, but Barca improved when Valverde sent on Arturo Vidal for Sergio Busquets and the Chilean’s cross from the right was volleyed home in spectacular style by Suarez from outside the box after 58 minutes.
That gave Barca the momentum and with their fans behind them, the Catalans pushed for a second goal.
Antone Griezmann blasted a shot into the side netting, while substitute Ousmane Dembele also came close with a couple of fierce efforts from long range.
Inter had their moments too, but one of their attacks late on left space for Barca to break and Messi drew several defenders his way with a superb run down the right with six minutes remaining. The Argentine then squared for Suarez, who still had plenty to do, but moved the ball into the box with a fine first touch and fired under the body of Handanovic with his second to complete the turnaround and seal a hard-fought win for the Catalans.
Barca’s win sees the Blaugrana move to four points in Group F with two games played, level on points with Borussia Dortmund after the Germans beat Slavia Prague 2-0 earlier on Wednesday.
Inter and Slavia have a point apiece, with Barca travelling to Prague next and the Italians at home to Dortmund in the third round of matches later this month.
Relive the action as it happened at Anfield!
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Starting lineups
Barcelona XI: ter Stegen, Nelson Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Sergi Roberto, Arthur, Busquets, de Jong, Messi, Suarez, Griezmann
Subs: Rakitic, Todibo, Dembele, Neto, Wague, Vidal, Perez
Inter Milan XI: Handanovic, Skriniar, Godin, de Vrij, Candreva, Barella, Brozovic, Sensi, Asamoah, Martinez, Sanchez
Subs: Gagliardini, Vecino, Politano, Padelli, Esposito, D'Ambrosio, Biraghi
