Ansgar Knauff sent the visitors into a surprise lead but French defender Kounde’s brace early in the second half put last season’s semi-finalists in control.
In the club’s first Champions League match back at Camp Nou since 2022, they gained revenge against a Frankfurt side who humiliated them in the Europa League in that same year.
The Bundesliga team packed the Camp Nou with their own fans and knocked Barca out of that competition at one of their lowest ebbs under Xavi Hernandez.
With a domestic treble and a run to the final four of the Champions League, Xavi’s successor Hansi Flick has changed the mood around Barca, but this season the team have struggled at times.
Defeats by Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain left Barca in a difficult position in Europe, but by beating Frankfurt they are still hopeful of avoiding the play-off round.
“We wanted to start at the Camp Nou with a win, it was a tricky game,” Pedri said. “We came back in the end, got the three points and we’re happy.”
Barcelona made tickets harder for Frankfurt fans to obtain this time around by delaying their sale, and beyond a small number of visiting supporters who appeared to be ejected from home areas, there was little trouble.
Meanwhile, Tottenham bolstered their bid to qualify for the Champions League last 16 with a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague in front of their former star Son Heung-min.
As South Korea forward Son watched from the stands, Thomas Frank’s side eased to a valuable victory in north London thanks to David Zima’s first-half own goal and penalties from Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons after the interval.
Buoyed by Saturday’s much-needed home victory over Brentford in the Premier League, Tottenham made it two successive wins in front of their own fans to ease the pressure on Frank after a rocky spell.
Tottenham are up to ninth place in the league phase ahead of their final matches against Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt in January, with the top eight automatically reaching the last 16 and teams from ninth to 24th going into the play-offs.
“Very happy with the win. We are in a strong position to progress,” Frank said. “I liked a lot from our performance but I also think we can be much better in the future and be more in control, but we’ve had four games in not many days.”
It was an emotional night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Son returned to say an official goodbye after his summer move to Los Angeles FC.
Son scored 173 goals in 454 games for Tottenham and captained the club to the Europa League victory against Manchester United last season to end their 17-year trophy drought. (AFP)