Barcelona Break 21st-Century Scoring Record Even Messi-Era Teams Couldn’t Match
Barcelona have opened the season with an extraordinary attacking surge, producing a goalscoring record that even some of the club’s most dominant teams of the Lionel Messi era failed to achieve.
Hansi Flick’s side have scored an astonishing 36 goals in their first eight competitive matches, making this the most prolific start in Barcelona’s history at this stage of a campaign.
Only Sevilla’s 1940/41 team has scored more goals in its opening eight matches in La Liga history.
And the numbers become even more impressive when Barcelona’s goals are broken down by individual performances.
The Catalan giants have already recorded seven braces and two hat-tricks, meaning nine separate multi-goal performances have been produced during their opening eight games.
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Raphinha and Lamine Yamal Driving Barcelona’s Attack
Barcelona have scored at least three goals in every match this season across La Liga and the Champions League, with the exception of their 2-0 victory over Athletic Club.
Raphinha has been at the centre of the attacking explosion.
The Brazilian has already scored 14 goals, including braces against Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Feyenoord. He then followed those performances with consecutive hat-tricks against Racing Santander and Sevilla.
His other goals came against Athletic Club and Valencia, meaning Raphinha has found the net in every Barcelona match so far except the meeting with Levante.
Lamine Yamal has also made a major contribution.
The teenager has scored seven goals, registering braces against Rayo Vallecano, Valencia and Levante while also scoring against Racing Santander. He has added four assists, putting him among Barcelona’s leading creators alongside Anthony Gordon.
Fermín López completes the club's leading goalscoring trio.
The midfielder scored twice against Elche before finding the net against both Athletic Club and Valencia. He scored in three of Barcelona’s first four matches of the campaign.
Barcelona Have Surpassed Even the Messi Era
The sheer number of individual scoring bursts makes Barcelona's start even more remarkable.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the seven braces and two hat-tricks give Barcelona nine multi-goal performances in their first eight competitive matches — the best such start recorded by the club in the 21st century.
Even the Messi-led Barcelona teams never reached that number during the same period of a season.
During the equivalent opening eight matches of the 2016/17 campaign, Barcelona produced four braces and two hat-tricks, giving them six multi-goal performances.
Messi contributed two braces and a hat-trick, while Luis Suárez registered a brace and a hat-trick. Arda Turan also scored twice during that run.
Barcelona's current attack has therefore produced a greater concentration of individual scoring explosions than that celebrated Messi-era side managed at the same stage.
Flick Has Established a Goalscoring Pattern
The attacking numbers also underline a trend that has developed during Flick's time in charge.
His first season at Barcelona already featured several major individual scoring performances. Lewandowski recorded two braces, Yamal produced one, while Raphinha added a brace and a hat-trick.
Last season saw another five braces, with Lewandowski, Raphinha, Fermín, Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres all contributing multi-goal games.
What stands out this time, however, is the speed at which Barcelona are producing them.
With 36 goals already scored after only eight competitive matches, Flick's team are combining an extraordinary overall scoring rate with repeated individual goal explosions.
If the current trend continues, Barcelona could be heading towards one of the most prolific attacking campaigns in the club's modern history.
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