Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets admitted his team missed talisman Lionel Messi as the Spanish giants needed to rally from a goal down to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Catalan giants went behind after Thorgan Hazard gave the home side a first-half advantage, but goals from Arda Turan and Gerard Pique ensured all three points went to the visitors instead.
Luis Enrique had to do without the services of Messi, who was nursing a groin injury, and Busquets felt that the team would have been much better had the Argentine took to the field.
"We will always miss Leo Messi," he told the Barca's official website.
"When you win by such a tight margin, you always notice his [Messi] absence more."
The win kept Barca at the top of Group C with six points, two ahead of Manchester City who could only manage a 3-3 draw away to Celtic.
Midfielder Andres Iniesta was pleased with Barca's second-half comeback, although he was taken by surprise over Monchengladbach's tactics.
"We found it hard to find space with them pegged back so deep in dfence," he said. "We thought they would come out and pt us under pressure [after the goal], but that wasn't the case.
"We changed things in the second half and there was more continuity to the way we played."
Barca will now shift their focus back to La Liga duties with a trip to Celta Vigo on Sunday.