Lionel Messi once again stole the show and the plaudits as Barcelona came from behind at Sevilla to keep in touch with La Liga leaders Real Madrid going into the international break.

Barca, who came into the game on the back of a defeat at Manchester City in the week, found themselves 1-0 down early on at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where Sevilla had won all five of their league games this season before Sunday.

However, Messi's equaliser before half-time -- his 500th goal for the club -- inspired a Barca comeback, which was completed when the Argentine teed up Luis Suarez in the second half.

"The difference is that they had Messi and we didn't," said Sevilla president Jose Castro. "They won thanks to him. Barca are one team with Messi and another without him."

Sevilla manager Jorge Sampaoli agreed with his president: "When Messi is up for it, he can't be controlled. He's a world class player and sometimes you can [stop him], but other times you can't.

"When the game opens up there's little you can do to stop him. Not him or his teammates, who are players that will penalise you if you give them space."

Vitolo, who had opened the scoring in the match, described Messi as "the best player in the history of the game" and match winner Suarez was similarly effusive in his praise.

"Leo can do everything, in any position," the Uruguayan international said in a postgame interview with Movistar. "He makes the difference, is intelligent and knows how to find the space."

Barca boss Luis Enrique added: "Leo has the capacity to interpret what's going on anywhere on the pitch and play anywhere.

Si el Balón de Oro se diera al mejor jugador del mundo, Leo lo tendría que haber ganado cada año desde el 2009. Otro nivel. - Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) November 6, 2016

"There's no-one you can compare him to. Our objective is to find him [with the ball] as much as we can."

And watching from home with a sprained ankle, Barca defender Gerard Pique also joined in with the Messi appreciation on social media.

He tweeted: "If the Ballon d'Or was given to the best player in the world, Leo would have won it every year since 2009. Another level."