Renascent Suárez is Barcelona's lethal weapon

So far, 2015 has been good to Luis Suárez. The Uruguayan has become one of FC Barcelona's outstanding performers, having rediscovered the goalscoring form that prompted the Catalan side to make the Liverpool FC man their record signing.

Rewind five months and things were not quite so rosy. Suárez made his Barça debut – his first outing after a three-month suspension – on 25 October against Real Madrid CF at the Santiago Bernabéu, but made a limited impact in a 3-1 defeat.

Coach Luis Enrique continued to support him, but Suárez's early months with Barça were not that remarkable in terms of statistics. He played 11 Blaugrana games in 2014, supplying six assists but scoring only three goals – decent figures but nothing compared to the 31-goal 2013/14 haul for Liverpool that earned him the ESM Golden Shoe, an honour he shared with Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, in retrospect it seems all the 27-year-old needed was a time to adapt. Since the turn of the year, the Barcelona striker has scored ten times and provided seven assists in all competitions. His two goals at Manchester City FC secured a 2-1 victory in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 tie, and his performance was rewarded with Man of the Match and UEFA.com Team of the Week honours.

His eagerly-awaited return to England was an unequivocal triumph for the striker, who ignored the whistles from the home fans to score twice in the first half hour. "It is pleasing to help the team with important goals in a Champions League knockout game and of course to return to England and beat a team you're always motivated to face," said Suárez after the match. "Players like me get inspired when fans boo them – it helps motivate you a bit more."

There should be no boos at Camp Nou on Wednesday, with Suárez's goalscoring helping to signpost his contribution to the side more clearly. "Perhaps his work has been more spectacular and more appreciated by the public recently, but since he arrived I have noticed everything he has been doing for us," said Luis Enrique after the Uruguayan starred in a 3-1 win at Granada CF, scoring the opener and providing an assist. A week later he scored the first and last goal in an emphatic 6-1 defeat of Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, and on Saturday he helped his side see off a tough SD Eibar to win 2-0.

Without a doubt, Suárez is back to his best. Scoring goals, pressing the opposition and opening up gaps for his fellow forwards Lionel Messi and Neymar, with whom he has developed a terrific understanding. The only question that remains is how far that destructive attacking trident can take Barcelona this season?