Story so far: FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona started their Group F campaign with a debutant manager. Luis Enrique spent eight successful years at the Camp Nou as a player, reaching two UEFA Champions League semi-finals, but had not managed in this competition before. He was also beginning his tenure as senior coach having led the Barcelona B team for much of Josep Guardiola's reign.

Story so far
Luis Enrique immediately imposed his character on the club, choosing to use the less experienced Marc-André ter Stegen in goal in Europe, with Claudio Bravo deployed in the Liga. An opening success over APOEL FC, courtesy of a rare Gerard Piqué strike, came about only by virtue of some fine saves by the young German. However, the Azulgrana then lost at Paris Saint-Germain on matchday two – their coach's first defeat at the helm.

Resounding victories against AFC Ajax – 5-1 on aggregate over the two games – and a 4-0 thumping of APOEL, when a Lionel Messi hat-trick took him past Raúl Gonzalez as the UEFA Champions League all-time top scorer, put the Catalan club back in the hunt for pole position. Barça finished first thanks to a 3-1 win against Paris, Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez all on the mark.

Pivotal moment
Both games against Paris were full of quality and drama but, no question, the pivotal moment came in Amsterdam. Beaten by Real Madrid CF and RC Celta de Vigo in the build-up, Barcelona approached the 5 November trip to Ajax lacking momentum and all too aware they had lost there the previous season. However, a Messi brace and a determined, characterful performance gave them three points and signalled a sea change.

Key player: Lionel Messi
It was not simply the fanfare surrounding him overtaking Raúl which marked this out as a special time for the player. The Argentinian international had spent weeks with both the UEFA Champions League and the Liga all-time scoring records tantalisingly within reach, until the point where it started to seem he was feeling the pressure.

However, from the minute he cleared his mind of overtaking Telmo Zarra, he went into overdrive with six goals in his last three Group F outings.

Rising star: Marc-André ter Stegen
Barça being Barça, there were four youth-team prodigies to choose from in this category. Munir El Haddadi and Sandro Ramírez caught the eye up front – the latter opening his account – while Sergi Samper finally earned his full debut in midfield and Rafinha showed why he was Spain's young player of 2013/14. However, 22-year-old German international Ter Stegen, with all six matches under his belt and a number of key saves made, gets the rising star award – for now.

Number: 146
Messi grabbed the headlines for surpassing Raúl, but Xavi Hernández proved his longevity once more – after a summer of speculation he might head elsewhere – by featuring in five fixtures to achieve a record 146 UEFA Champions League group-stage-to-final appearances.

Quote
"Messi is the greatest player of all time. He will continue to surprise us all for years to come."
Barça coach Luis Enrique after the club's resident genius smashes yet another record

Next challenge: Manchester City FC
(Away: 24 February, home: 18 March)
Barcelona got the better of City in last season's UEFA Champions League round of 16, winning 2-0 in Manchester and 2-1 at the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves scored in each leg; Vincent Kompany got City's sole reply.