Víctor Valdés, the wall of FC Barcelona

Leo Messi is the man on the covers of the sports papers because of his hat trick. The match against Ajax (4-0), however, also had another important protagonist: Víctor Valdés. Here’s an overview of what we believe to be the most important stats and facts from the first match of the Champions League group stage.

- The Barça keeper saved a total of seven shots against Ajax, including a penalty. In terms of shots saved, last night’s match was Valdés’ best of the season.

- The last penalty Valdés saved before last night's was against Levante on November 25 of 2012. Barça also won that match by 0 to 4.

- Barça haven’t conceded a goal in four of the seven matches played so far this season.

- Piqué is the latest player to add his name to the list of Barça players who have scored this season, the tally currently stands at eight.

- Alves and Adriano were the players who won possession back the most against Ajax, with 10 and 11 turnovers, respectively.

- Valdés and Mascherano are the two players who have played the most minutes for the team so far this season.

- The last time Xavi started a Champions League match on the bench was on November 1 of 2011, when Barça played away to Viktoria Pilsen.

- With his hat trick, Messi has scored a total of nine goals this season.

- 79,412 fans attended the Camp Nou for the match against Ajax, which makes Wednesday’s game the most attended match at the Camp Nou so far this season. Against Levante, Atlético Madrid and Sevilla, the 70,000-fan mark was also broken.