The Catalans stumbled to a largely disappointing moment in the tournament last season. In the semi-finals, they were hit by a humiliating 7-0 aggregate loss to eventual winners Bayern Munich - the biggest defeat the Blaugrana had ever suffered in their entire history.
But the new European season has arrived and you can count on Gerardo Martino's men to give it their best shot.
On September 17, the name on everyone's lips was 'Cristiano Ronaldo'. The Argentine’s rival grabbed a hat-trick of his own as Los Blancos romped to a 6-1 victory over Galatasaray in Turkey.
That was the Portuguese’s second so far in the Champions League which left him behind the likes of Mario Gomez, Filippo Inzaghi, and Messi.
A day later, La Pulga reclaimed the spotlight with a free-kick and two well-taken strikes at the Camp Nou.
The four-time Ballon d’Or’s three-goal haul now means that he has scored an amazing amount of four hat-tricks in his Champions League career to date, which is more than any other player in footballing history.
“What you can do, I can do, too,” Messi seems to tell Ronaldo. All hail the Messiah! Watch him net a hat-trick in Barcelona's 2013/14 UEFA Champions League opener:
Messi has already set numerous records in Europe’s premier footballing competition, including becoming the first player to ever score five, yes, five goals in one match versus Bayer Leverkusen in March 2012.
What’s quite amazing is that at just 26, he’s only been playing professionally for just under a decade:
Lionel Messi: Has scored a hat-trick, on average, every 15.7 games in La Liga and the CL since his league debut in 2004
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 19, 2013
And, no matter if you love or absolutely can’t stand Barcelona, you’ve got to give the Argentine maestro credit for his consistently high performances on both the domestic and international front:
Messi has now scored 40+ goals for club and country the 5TH consecutive calendar year: 41 - 60 - 59 - 91 - 40 (ongoing)
— MessiStats (@MessiStats) September 18, 2013
