Eleven goals clear of the next-best attack
Twenty-eight goals in six La Liga games. Whoever sits second in the scoring charts is at least 11 behind. Across all competitions FC Barcelona are on 33 in seven, and five of those games finished with five goals or more on their side of the scoreboard.
The sequence reads 5-0 at Elche, 2-0 against Athletic, 5-2 over Rayo Vallecano, 5-0 against Valencia, 4-2 at Levante, 7-2 against Racing Santander. Then the 5-1 taken off Feyenoord in the Champions League. A league average of 4.7 a match is the best figure in Europe’s big five, with Freiburg next on 3.3.
The Santander game produced 6.74 expected goals. Nothing in La Liga has topped that since tracking started in 2010-11. Three penalties went into the pile, which takes a little air out of the number without deflating it.
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Raphinha played zero minutes at centre-forward last season
Barcelona spent the summer chasing Julian Alvarez. Atletico Madrid would not move, least of all for a direct rival. Gabriel Jesus came in from Arsenal, but as cover rather than a solution.
So Hansi Flick improvised. Raphinha did not spend a single minute up front last season. He now spends 91% of his time there, with 11 goals in six matches off 24 shots, a 42.9% strike rate. Take his three penalties out and it is still 38.1%.
Lamine Yamal has eight already, plus 21 chances created from open play, more than any player in the big five leagues. Anthony Gordon has yet to score since leaving Newcastle, though his four La Liga assists lead the continent. Fermin Lopez has four goals, Karim Adeyemi three.
Real Madrid have taken 126 shots and scored 11 fewer goals
Volume is not the story. Real Madrid sit on 124 shots to Barcelona’s 126 in La Liga, and trail by 11 goals. The gap is in what kind of chance each shot is. Barcelona convert 22.2%, second in Europe behind newly promoted Elversberg. Their 25.1 expected goals lead the division by 6.9, and 4.18 xG per match is a continental record.
Twenty-one of the 28 have come from an assist, at least nine more than any club in Spain. Twenty-three arrived in open play. Barcelona have attempted 45 through balls, more than double Real Madrid’s count.
Since Flick walked in during the summer of 2024, the club has scored 351 goals across 124 matches, 2.8 a game. Hold this current pace and the season ends on 177 league goals. Real Madrid’s 121 in 2011-12 is the mark to beat. Sevilla away, this weekend, before the international break.
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