Lionel Messi is key to FC Barcelona's success both on and off the field. Last night, he returned to the pitch and completed his first 90 minutes of the season against Inter Milan. His incredible piece of play which led to Luis Suarez's second goal aside, the Argentine was on another level to everybody else.
The stats
Messi was the man of the match. There is no debate about that. He brought moments of genius only he is capable of producing and the stats only further back that up.
Leo generated more chances than anybody else (6) and he also created the most clear chances too (2). Messi topped the charts for most successful dribbles (10 out of 11) and beat his opponent one-on-one on 13 occasions, more than any other player.
Messi is Barça's all-time top goalscorer in the competition (112 goals) and has made 137 appearances in Europe's premier competition, a record for a foreign player at Barça.
He also displayed his credentials as captain when he asked for calm after an uncharacteristically poor start to contest.