Having lost their La Liga title to Real Madrid in the previous season, Barcelona also had to enter the campaign without boss Pep Guardiola, who decided to take a break from the game following their Copa del Rey success.

His assistant Tito Vilanova took charge of the club, and he has negotiated the Catalan outfit to their best start in the 113-year history of Spain's top division.

It has also been a record-breaking year for Lionel Messi, who surpassed Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a calendar year. The Argentine hit 91 goals in the year of 2012, while his side are clear runners at the top of the table.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at their record-breaking season ahead of their return to action in 2013.

August

It proved to be a fairly quiet summer in terms of transfers with Ibrahim Afellay the only notable departure, while Alex Song and Jordi Alba arrived at the club. Their league season began with a thumping 5-1 win over Real Sociedad, while they recorded a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Super Cup clash.

They made it two wins from two league matches with a 2-1 win away at Osasuna, but they were defeated 2-1 at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid claimed the Super Cup on away goals. First blood to Jose Mourinho's side in terms of the new season, but Barca were to have the last laugh.

September

September proved to be a quite incredible month for the club as they racked up five straight wins in all competitions. Their league campaign continued with back-to-back wins against Valencia and Getafe. Meanwhile, they opened their Champions League group campaign with a 3-2 win over Spartak Moscow.

They continued to lead the pace in La Liga as they racked up wins over Granada and Sevilla, with Messi among the goals in the early stages of the season. They had problems in defence with Gerard Pique and Carlos Puyol carrying knocks, but their quality in attacking positions meant that they continued to win football matches.

October

October was another unbeaten month for Barcelona, although they did drop their first points of the season. The month began with a 2-0 away success over Benfica in the Champions League, while Messi scored twice as they drew 2-2 with Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.

One of the most memorable matches of the season then followed as they won 5-4 away at Deportivo La Coruna. Madrid's early struggles meant that they were starting to open up a healthy lead at the top of the table.

They made it three straight wins in the Champions League with a 2-1 success over Celtic, even though they needed a last-minute strike from Alba to overcome the Scottish outfit. The month also ended in impressive fashion with a 5-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in the league and a 3-0 Copa del Rey success over Deportivo Alaves.

November

The month began with a 3-1 home win against Celta Vigo in La Liga. However, they then suffered just their second defeat of the season on a quite incredible night in Scotland.

Celtic opened up a 2-0 lead over the Catalan club and although Messi cut the deficit to 2-1 in the latter stages, it was not enough for Barcelona, who incredibly lost the Champions League tie despite having more than 85% of the possession.

The setback did not dampen their league form, however, as they responded with wins over Real Mallorca and Real Zaragoza. Meanwhile, they returned to form in the Champions League and booked their spot in the latter stages with a 3-0 win over Spartak Moscow.

They continued their incredible form with a 4-0 away win over Levante and a 3-1 victory over Deportivo Alaves to book their spot in the next round of the Copa del Rey as Messi continued to move closer to the Muller record.

December

The month of December will forever be remembered for Messi breaking Muller's long-standing record. He hit another brace on the opening day against Athletic Bilbao. However, he started on the bench as Barcelona drew 0-0 with Benfica in their final match in the Champions League group stages.

The record was finally broken on December 9 when Messi hit another a href="/football/betis/result/result-messi-breaks-record-to-give-barca-victory_58699.html">double against Real Betis to take him onto 86 goals for the calendar year. He was not done there as he struck another double against Cordoba in the Copa del Rey and yet another brace in the 4-1 thumping of nearest rivals Atletico Madrid.

They also learnt that they would face AC Milan in the knockout stages of the Champions League before recording a 3-1 win over Real Valladolid in their final match before the winter break. However, the month was marred somewhat by news of Vilanova's cancer scare.

They ended 2012 nine points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid and an incredible 16 clear of Real Madrid having won 16 of their 17 league matches.