Suarez struck in the 26th minute as he timed his run perfectly, darting between Liverpool defenders Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk to stab a Jordi Alba cross into the net.

While Liverpool frequently threatened in a breathless encounter, Barcelona doubled their advantage with 15 minutes to play when Suarez hit the crossbar, only for the ball to rebound to Messi six yards out, who chested the ball down and tapped it home.

Messi then added a simply superb third on 82 minutes, curling a trademark left-footed free-kick into the top corner.

Mohamed Salah hit the post late on for Liverpool, but it was Messi and Suarez who stole the show to hand their team a huge advantage heading to Anfield for the second leg next week.         

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