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Barcelona came from behind to clinch an important victory in their UEFA Champions League home tie against Inter Milan. Antonio Conte, who was already furious with his side's inability to beat Slavia Prague in their opening Champions League fixture, will be positively incandescent that his team let Barcelona come from behind to beat Inter.
Lautaro Martinez put Inter Milan a goal ahead within two minutes, making it an uphill task for Barcelona against a defensively sound Conte team. Inter continued to be the dominant force both in attack and defence throughout the first half. The second period, though, saw the Blaugrana gather more steam and an absolute belter of a goal from Luis Suarez to equalise against the visitors.
It would be the Uruguayan who would eventually put them in front after plenty of knocking on the door from his side. His 84th-minute finish setting up an important win for Ernesto Valverde in this difficult group.
It'll give Barcelona an advantage alongside Borussia Dortmund as they're now the two sides at the top of Group F, level on points but with the German side leading on goal difference.
#4 The Early Goal Advantage
Plenty of the pre-game conversation was around the inclusion of Lionel Messi in this starting XI, but it was his Inter Milan counterpart making the early impact as he put his side ahead within two minutes.
Martinez pounced upon a ricochet off Alexis Sanchez covering plenty of ground to catch up with Clement Lenglet and then gaining an inch to guide the ball past Ter Stegen. There are plenty of sides in football who're adept at protecting 1-0 leads and Barcelona were facing one of the best.
Inter proved to be more than just a solid defensive team in the first half and threatened Barcelona's goal on several occasions. The Italians probably had the best chances of the first half all to themselves while the home side were largely restricted to shots from outside the box.
#3 The Midfield Switch
Ernesto Valverde put on the pitch, what in his own words, he described as the best combination Barcelona had in midfield. Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong and Arthur were outplayed by the Inter trio of Marcelo Brozovic, Stefano Sensi, and Nicolo Barella. The Nerazzurri midfield formed a solid wall in front of their backline of five refusing to budge.
In attack, Sensi and Barella were able to pick out Alexis Sanchez and Lautaro Martinez who were able to put both Lenglet and Gerard Pique in uncomfortable positions. However, Barcelona seemed to transform in the second half, particularly about 10 minutes into the second period when Busquets was replaced by Arturo Vidal.
Vidal did a formidable job of providing more drive and bit to the midfield for Barcelona, but it also meant that Frenkie De Jong could play a more deep role and move the ball around with purpose for Barcelona. Within five minutes of Vidal's arrival on the pitch, he was looping the ball across for Luis Suarez to fire into the back of the net.
#2 Luiz Suarez's two moments of Magic
There has been plenty of criticism levelled at Luis Suarez this season. His levels seemed to have dropped, most notably, in the past season. The beginning of this season saw Antoine Griezmann being heralded as his most likely replacement in this starting XI over the season and perhaps for the long term.
Nonetheless, the Uruguayan came to the party against Inter Milan in a big way, showing that he can still do the job for Barcelona. His first goal on the night was a thing of beauty that happened in a flash but seemed to be a moment frozen in time.
Vidal's pass to Suarez wasn't meant to be taken on with a first time shot, he wasn't meant to twist his body and connect sweetly to drive the ball into the bottom corner on the volley, but that's exactly what Barcelona's supposedly fading force did.
As good as that goal was, the second was a piece of art. The preceding moments were a Lionel Messi masterclass that we've almost come to expect from the maestro as he skipped past a couple of tackles and fizzed the ball into Luis Suarez.
The Uruguayan shaped to shoot but let the ball run across his body to his left foot, knocked it past Diego Godin who had already made the challenge and then slipped it past Samir Handanovic.
Suarez netted twice on the night, he had no right to the first one, and the second was perhaps Barcelona's only clear chance of the game. Seems like they can use him after all.
#1 Inter Milan's failure to punish Barcelona
Lautaro Martinez's second-minute goal was exactly what this Inter side needed to get a result at Nou Camp where they have an immensely poor record. For about 45 minutes, it did seem like Antonio Conte's team would pull off a stunning result and you could practically hear the alarm bells ringing for Valverde.
Martinez himself had a couple of chances that he should've buried in the first half. His inability to convert from those opportunities would come back to haunt them as Barcelona marched to a 2-1 victory.
Antonio Candreva, and Nicolo Barella both had opportunities that went begging as well. Inter astutely denied Barcelona plenty of opportunities with their tight defensive set-up but failed to convert their goalscoring chances. On most days that's an undesirable quality, but against a dangerous Barcelona team at Camp Nou, it proved to be the nail in Inter's proverbial coffin.
