A second half brace from Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne helped German side Wolfsburg to a 3-1 win over Inter Milan in a Europa League round of 16 first leg encounter on Thursday.

Inter had taken a fifth minute lead at the Volkswagen Arena through Rodrigo Palacio but Brazilian defender Naldo restored parity with a 31st minute goal for Wolfsburg.

A half-time change which saw Andre Schürlle taken off and Vierinha moved from right back to right wing position proved crucial to Inter’s downfall in the second half.

A poor ball out by Inter goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carizzo saw Vierinha take up possession and set up De Bruyne to give Wolfsburg the lead just after the hour mark.

De Bruyne got his second of the night with a well struck free kick 15 minutes to the end and could have got a hattrick, but instead headed straight at Carizzo and then fired just wide after breaching the Inter defence with a one-two move with substitute Nicklas Bendtner.

In other first leg matches played, Belgian side Club Brugge came from behind to beat Turkish giants Beșiktas 2-1, Dutch club Ajax lost 1-0 at Dnipro while Zenit St. Petersburg claimed a 2-0 win at home to Torino of Italy.