Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has paid tribute to his players for coming through Sunday's La Liga clash away to Sevilla with all three points.

Vitolo sent Sevilla ahead in the 15th minute of the contest, but Lionel Messi equalised in the 43rd minute before Luis Suarez won it for the Spanish champions in the second period.

Enrique has said that his team "knew it would be difficult" due to the strength of Sevilla, but was pleased to secure a vital win, which has left Barcelona just two points off league leaders Real Madrid entering the international break.

"It was a great match, which was suspected, given both teams' attacking profile and pressing. It was a thrilling game with chances," Enrique told reporters.

"The team responded very well. We were able to overtake our opponents. It's always a problem, but we solved it in a wonderful way. Before we conceded, there was a mix-up between Luis [Suarez] and Neymar, which is unusual.

"We knew it would be difficult against a team that could cause us problems, but we also had many chances to kill the game off. We'll go on with the idea of picking up points. It was an excellent test to see what stuff the Barca players were made of."

Barcelona will return to league action at home to Malaga on November 19.