Barça is a steamroller in attack

Barça is a hammer. The team led by Hansi Flick confirmed last week against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid the good offensive sensations they had shown in the first games and presented credentials to be the best attack in European football. The culés have, after eleven days, 37 goals in the League, a figure much higher than that of direct rivals such as Carlo Ancelotti’s team (21), Villarreal (20) or the discreet 16 goals they have scored to date in the Atlético de Madrid domestic championship.

«At the moment we are in the flow. “We played well, we won and we scored goals,” said Flick last Saturday after beating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. The German coach stuck out his chest after a football demonstration in which many of the keys that have led Barça to be a real steamroller in attack could be seen. The culés were accurate once again against the rival goal and scored four goals that added to the long list of goals they have scored this season.

With these four goals, Barça now has 37 goals in eleven games, or in other words, they score 3.36 goals per game. That figure summarizes the avalanche that Flick’s team has become and forces us to make a comparison with the most powerful teams on the old continent. Only Bayern Munich, who came out beaten by Lluis Companys, resist the challenge. The Germans have scored 29 goals in 9 days (3.62 goals per game) and are the most prolific team in the five major leagues, far ahead of Manchester City, which leads the Premier League (2.22), and PSG, which commands in France (3.1) or Atalanta, which is the highest scoring team in Italy (2.66).

Barça has reached these figures after leaving behind the lack of aim that Xavi resorted to so much last year. The culés are accurate in front of the rival goal and this is demonstrated by the fact that no one has a higher percentage of shots that end in a goal (25%), while last year it was 17.95%. This improvement is fundamental in a Barça that has become much more versatile in the game. In the classic you could see a team capable of having the ball in different phases of the game and also capable of having more vertical attacks with which to surprise the rival team.

That versatility has been combined with the good moment that the Barça team’s attacking players are going through. Flick has been able to bring out the best version of a Lewandowski who seems inexhaustible and who already has 14 goals in the League. The Pole has a good challenge ahead of him against Espanyol this Sunday. He has scored five days in a row and it is his record with the Barcelona shirt. He has never managed to score goals for six weeks in a row, taking into account all competitions.

Flick has known how to surround him with two squires who attract a lot of attention and who free the Pole from responsibility. Raphinha already has 6 goals and 6 assists, while Lamine Yamal is not far behind and already has 5 goals and 6 assists. The result is a team that has lost fear and always looks forward. From the League that Barça won two years ago with defensive numbers that aroused the admiration of Europe, they have moved on to a team that stands out for just the opposite. Barça instills fear and overflows with optimism in the face of what is to come with the return of players like Fermín López or Dani Olmo, two players who also guarantee goals.