Victory in Milan. Sekulic's Barça were made to work hard for this 81-89 win despite being ahead during most of the game. Having taken the initiative in all phases of the game, the blaugranes managed to deal with home side pressure for a significant win. Punter and Gibson were inspired in particular, but Parra, Martin and Nebo ably supported to achieve this fourth triumph in Europe.

Blaugranes build a lead

A good start with Parra accurate from the triple saw Sekulic's side build an early lead: 7-14 (min 3). The home side reacted and pushed hard to tie up the game, which they managed at 21-21, but the blaugrana number 44 ensured his side were ahead at the end of the first quarter.

Baskets were being exchanged and intensity reigned in this game between the Catalans and the Italians, with the scoreline either equal or with a slight lead for the visitors. However, Tyrese Martin stepped up for the blaugranes to take it to 29-37 after 17 minutes, with good support from Nkamhoua and Umude. Half-time score: 40-44.

Italians react to shorten the gap

Better free throws by Barça could have seen their +7 lead grow. Sekulic's side were more efficient on the rebounds and they just needed to break away because Milan remained in the game: 49-55 (min 25). Triple accuracy and offensive aggression changed the dynamic to take the lead to 52-66. However, the home side quickly came back to 64-68, before a buzzer beater triple by Gibson stemmed the flow.

Punter and Gibson decisive

Job still to be done in the fourth and just when the attack was misfiring and the home side came to within four, Punter scored five in a row to open a +10 gap. A lively Gibson showed in attack and defence to help extend the lead to 69-83 with just over three minutes left, and the gap proved too much for Armani Olimpia Milano, who ultimately lost 81-89 to Barça.

That's four EuroLeague wins now this season, with the defeats to Olympiacos and Joventut behind them. Next up, Casademont Zaragoza in the Liga Endesa at the Palau Blaugrana on 24 October.

GAME STATS

Armani Milán, 81
Barça, 89

Armani Milán: Cole (9), Wright (6), Hall (5), Mathews (3) and Peters (13) - starting five - Bolmaro (12), Guduric (2), Thompson (12), Burnell (15) and Booker (4) 
Barça: Robinson (10), Punter (17), Martin (14), Parra (12) and Balcerowski (-) - starting five - Nebo (11), Gibson (13), Evbuomwan (-), Umude (7), Minaya (1) and Nkamhoua (4)

Quarters: 21-23; 19-21 // 24-27; 17-18

Referees: Sasa Pukl, Damir Javor and Jakub Zamojski