Barcelona came through their first test without the injured Lionel Messi, earning a convincing 2-0 win at home to Inter Milan to take control of Champions League Group B on Wednesday.

Midfielder Rafinha opened the scoring against the club where he spent the latter half of last season, bursting through the middle and finding Luis Suarez, then turning the Uruguayan's cross in on the volley in the 32nd minute.

Spanish left back Jordi Alba killed off Inter's resistance late in the second half with a thumping low finish, snapping the Italian side's winning streak of seven games in all competitions and sealing a third straight win in the Champions League for Ernesto Valverde's side.

Barca top Group B with nine points while Inter are second on six, and a victory for the Catalans in the return fixture at the San Siro in two weeks' time will practically seal their place in the last 16 of Europe's elite competition.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.