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One point would be enough to send the Catalans into the last sixteen of the Champions League and would also guarantee that they finish top of Group E. With the joy of a 4-0 triumph at Real Madrid still fresh in the memory, FC Barcelona return to the Camp Nou for Champions League action on Tuesday night at 8.45pm CET. Barça are on form. Even without Leo Messi they have just won nine out of ten games and kept a fifth consecutive clean sheet. With ten points out of a possible twelve in Champions Group E, one more against Roma would be enough to ensure qualification in first place. FC Barcelona and the Catalan police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, have established a set of extraordinary security measures to increase the safety of those in attendance, after the terrorist attacks in Paris; access to the stadium will open three hours before the game and backpacks, suitcases, fanny packs or large bags will not be allowed into Camp Nou,amongst other measures. 

More than 723,500 vehicles were transported through Port de Barcelona during the first ten months of the year, 19% more than in the same period last year. Most of them, 374,554, were exports, although what grew the most from January to September were vehicle imports (+41%). Freight traffic during the first ten months of the year was 3% higher than in the same period last year, reaching 1.6 TEU, the transport unit which is equal to a 20-foot container. Goods exports were higher than imports and China and the USA topped the ranking of destination markets. Finally, from January to October Port de Barcelona received 3.3 million passengers, which is 6% more than the same period last year. 2.2 million of these were cruise liner passengers.

FC Barcelona turned in a virtuoso performance on Saturday night at the Santiago Bernabéu, meticulously carving up Real Madrid up and down the pitch to take the first El Clásico of the 2015/16 season by a score of 4-0. Suárez scored a double, while Neymar and Iniesta added one each, as the Catalans moved to six points up at the top of the table. With Real Madrid facing the ignominy of a whipping in front of their home fans, tempers began to flare, and in the 84th minute Isco was shown a straight red card for coming in high with the studs on Neymar and catching the league’s leading goalscorer. Following Barça's 0-4 demolishing of Real Madrid, head coach Luis Enrique appeared in the press room and expressed a high-degree of satisfaction with the way the game went. “I’m satisfied not just for the victory, but for the way we did it”, he stated.

From 6.15pm CET on Saturday, the Santiago Bernabéu will be the stage for the latest edition of the greatest football show in the world, 'El Clásico'. Real Madrid versus FC Barcelona is set to be played as scheduled although a set of extraordinary security measures have been established to increase the safety of those in attendance, after the terrorist attacks last Friday at Paris Saint-Denis stadium, amongst other locations. Luis Enrique confirmed that Leo Messi would be available for 'El Clásico' after the knee problem which has kept him out since the game against Las Palmas on 26 September. Ivan Rakitic, for his part, is also back after recovering from a calf strain picked up on 4 November against BATE Borisov in the Champions League. On the other hand, Rafinha and Douglas will be missing due to injury and Bartra and Masip are not travelling. 

3,621,777 passengers used Barcelona El Prat Airport's facilities this October, 7.5% more than in the same month last year. This figure sets a new record for El Prat, which is the second busiest airport in Spain, only beaten by Madrid Barajas. Most of the users whom passed through El Prat were international passengers, which registered a 9.1% increase compared to October 2014, while the number of national passengers rose to 3.3%. Regarding the number of operations, there were 25,349 flights in October, which represents 1% more than in the same month last year, and from January to October 248,358 operations were registered in El Prat. The number of flights to/from Latin America grew the most, by 47.5%, followed by those to/from North America (up 21%) and the Middle East (up 18.8%). Cargo transportation also grew, increasing by 15.3% and totalling 11,070 tons. In terms of cargo, routes from outside the EU saw the biggest growth, 30.6%. 

‘Barcelona Catalonia Culture Week’, the first Catalan cultural week organised in Shanghai awoke the interest of 73,000 people. Coinciding with the 10^th anniversary of the Catalan Society ‘Casal Català de Xangai’ and 15 years since the twinning of Barcelona and Shanghai, China’s financial capital hosted more than 30 activities to present Catalonia’s cultural heritage to the local audience. International icons such as surrealist painter Salvador Dalíand architect Antoni Gaudíwere the centre of some of the art exhibitions. Another key point of the programme was the participation of ‘Castellers de Vilafranca’, whom displayed Catalan human towers all around the city. “This initiative introduces Catalonia to China’s collective imagination”stated the Catalan Institute of China’s President, Alexis Roig, and is the result of “a joint effort from civil society, companies and the Catalan institutions”. 

The two halves of Sunday’s game were night and day for FC Barcelona. During the first half the action was set in midfield but after the break there was a much greater assertiveness on attack, especially for Barça. The Catalans scored on the stroke of one hour when Sergio Busquets came up with a loose ball following a Villarreal turnover in their own half and picked out Neymar on the left flank. Suárez made it 2–0 on a penalty kick in the 70th minute. But while FC Barcelona’s first two goals were the epitome of teamwork, the third and final goal of the day was a paragon of the Neymar–Suárez show and a quintessential exhibition of technical ingenuity by Barça’s number 11. By the end of 90 minutes of play, the Yellow Submarine, as Villarreal are known, was little more than a mangled wreck lying at the bottom of the sea floor, courtesy of two-third’s of Barça’s trident, who have performed brilliantly in the absence of Lionel Messi. With the win, the Catalans are now unbeaten in their last 15 games against Villarreal, including seven straight wins at Camp Nou across all competitions.

The second edition of Suite Festival, hosted and organised by Barcelona Liceu Opera House, will gather together a wide range of international artists such as Paul Anka, Johnny Hallyday, Michel Camilo and Emir Kusturica amongst others. The aim is to attract new audiences and make the Liceu “more social”, stated its General Director, Roger Guasch. Although the whole programme is still to be confirmed, Suite Festival faces into its second edition organising three more concerts than last year and with a 1.5 million euros budget, 300,000 euros more than in the first edition. The cheapest ticket will cost 15 euros and 180 euros will buy you the most expensive. To promote the opera to new and younger audiences and “break down”the barriers, Guasch assured that Liceu and Clipper, the promotion company of Suite Festival, will compare and mix their databases so that Barcelona Opera House can have as much accurate information on the attendants’profiles as possible.

Neymar (2) and Luis Suárez provide the goals for a win over the Belarusians that mean the blaugranes now just need a point to top and group and make it to knock out stages. On the quarter of an hour mark Ivan Rakitic limped off with a calf injury and Munir was the man chosen to replace the Croatian. The substitute played a key role in the goal that put the blaugranes ahead on the half hour mark, forcing a penalty that Neymar turned into the first goal. Suárez broke the offside trap down the right hand side and his unselfish pass took out keeper Chernik and allowed his Brazilian team mate to slide the ball into an empty net for his second and Barça’s third of the evening. That was job done for the home side and although Suárez and Neymar himself seemed determined to add to their personal tallies, it ended 3-0 to the blaugranes.

Barça face BATE Borisov this Wednesday at Camp Nou at 8.45pm CET in the knowledge that a win against the side from Belarus could put them through to the knock out stages for the 12th season in a row should AS Roma fail to beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the other Group E fixture. The Belarusians are currently in third place in the group on 3 points, one behind second placed Bayer and so still have hope of making it to the last 16 themselves. Luis Enrique is focused on just one objective for side at Camp Nou: "The goal is to qualify, and do it as first in the group. The groups are competitive, and anything can happen. But as the defending champions we must send a message that we are ready.” Javier Mascherano will be available even though he is currently one match into a two game domestic ban in La Liga, and Andrés Iniesta, recently recovered from injury, should be in the squad as well. 

The final phase of construction of the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona has begun. In two years’ time, the six central towers will already be visible and by 2023 they will be complete, making it the tallest religious building in Europe. Barcelona’s most iconic building is expected to be completed by 2026, to coincide with the 100^th anniversary of architect Antoni Gaudí’s death. The construction work is currently focused on the transept, a room that wasn’t planned by Gaudí, and that is set to bear the weight of Jesus tower, the biggest one, which will be 172.5 m high. The transept room will also be used as a landing space for visitors before they start the ascent to the tower. Audiovisual projections showing the progress of the work on the building will also be exhibited in the transept room, which has already been set up with stone stands for visitors. The work on Sagrada Familia represents 25 million euros in annual investment and the basilica is visited by more than 3 million people every year.

The Manga Fair opened its doors this Thursday in Barcelona and will be the meeting point for comic and Japanese culture lovers until Sunday. This year the event has increased both the number of visitors and that of the companies and professionals taking part, and consequently the fair’s exhibition space in Montjuic’s Fira de Barcelona has been extended to 60,000 m². The fair commemorates this year the 30^th anniversary of one of the most iconic characters of Japanese culture and the international video games industry: Super Mario Bros. Another outstanding exhibition at this 21^st edition shows the influence of Gaudí’s architecture within Japanese culture and the work of Japanese architects in Barcelona. The 70^th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings is also a topic which is taken into account at the fair and around which some exhibitions are centred. The organisers of the fair expect to welcome more than 130,000 visitors. A good sign of this high participation is the tickets for the weekend, which have already sold out. 

FC Barcelona have some work to do in the second leg of their Copa del Rey round of 32 tie with Villanovense after the plucky third tier side managed to hold them to a surprise 0-0 draw on Wednesday night. Luis Enrique opted for a very different starting line-up to the Barça team we are used to, with Douglas at right back and Masip in goal getting their first starts of the season. The promising young Cameroonian Wilfrid Kaptoum made his first team debut in midfield in partnership with Gumbau and Samper, while Adriano was fielded in an unfamiliar attacking role alongside Sandro Ramírez and Munir. The Catalans never quite managed to settle, and rather than sit back and defend, the home side had clearly come out to play ball too. As the half progressed, Villanovense grew in confidence and the crowd in the Romero Cuerda were loving every moment of it. There was a lot more urgency to Barça’s style after the break, but despite dominating a massive 75% of the possession, there was nothing in the way of clear-cut chances until Sandro fired a screaming shot from the edge of the area that only just failed to find the target.

The Catalans rode the brute strength of their Uruguayan striker to another come-from-behind victory in La Liga, this time by a score of 3–1 at Camp Nou. Eibar opened the scoring in the 10th minute on Sunday, when Borja González struck home a long rebound following a diving stop by Barça goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. The Uruguayan first drew Barça even at 1–1 on the stroke of 22 minutes when he headed home a beautiful one-touch volley from Sandro Ramírez. Three minutes after the break Suárez put Barça into the lead with his second goal. Suárez's sealed his hat-trick, his second since debuting for Barça exactly one-year ago to the day, and the win, in the 84th minute. The victory was Barça’s third straight across all competitions, following last week’s win over Rayo and Tuesday’s Champions League triumph at Bate Borisov, and allows them to keep pace at the top of the La Liga table.

Breaking down BATE Borisov proved to be as tricky as Luis Enrique had suggested before the game. The first fifteen minutes were a monologue in the BATE half, the visitors playing with confidence and generating chance after chance. All that changed in practically the first move after the break. Rakitic, who stepped in to take Sergi Roberto's place, sent a trademark long-range strike unstoppably into the top left corner of the BATE net. It wouldn’t be long before he was celebrating his second. In the 64th minute he received an exquisite assist from Neymar and cheekily tipped it over BATE keeper Chernik to extend his team’s lead. Three points that leave them in a strong position at the top of Group E with seven points, three clear of second placed Bayer Leverkusen.