Barcelona Sets Unmatched 21st-Century Scoring Record Surpassing Even Messi’s Era
Barcelona have launched their season with an attacking performance that even their legendary squads led by Lionel Messi couldn’t reach. Under Hansi Flick, they have netted 36 goals in just eight competitive games—the highest tally in the club’s history at this stage.
This remarkable feat also ranks as the second-best scoring start in La Liga history, only behind Sevilla’s 1940/41 team.
Impressive Goal Breakdown
Breaking down these numbers reveals an even more striking picture. Barca players have already racked up seven braces and two hat-tricks, totaling nine multi-goal individual displays before the season has fully settled.
Raphinha and Lamine Yamal Leading the Charge
Excluding a 2-0 win over Athletic Club, Barcelona has scored three or more goals in every other match across La Liga and the Champions League.
Raphinha spearheads this goal surge with 14 goals. His achievements include braces against Elche, Rayo Vallecano, and Feyenoord, plus back-to-back hat-tricks versus Racing Santander and Sevilla. He also found the net against Athletic and Valencia, scoring in every game except the Levante fixture.
Lamine Yamal, the young talent, is close behind with seven goals, including braces against Rayo Vallecano, Valencia, and Levante, plus a goal against Racing. Additionally, he has four assists, tying him with Anthony Gordon atop the assist leaderboard.
Fermin Lopez rounds out the trio with a brace against Elche and goals against Athletic and Valencia, having scored in three of the first four matches.
Surpassing Even the Messi-Led Teams
The frequency of these individual goal bursts might be the most surprising part. The nine multi-goal performances mark the best start of the 21st century for Barcelona. Even Messi’s teams never achieved this in their first eight matches.
During the 2016/17 season, Barca had four braces and two hat-tricks early on, totaling 14 goals from those performances. Messi contributed two braces and one hat-trick, Luis Suarez had one brace and one hat-trick, and Arda Turan scored twice.
Flick’s Pattern of Consistent Scoring Feats
This high attacking output isn’t entirely new under Flick. His first season saw Robert Lewandowski notch two braces, Lamine Yamal one, and Raphinha a brace and a hat-trick. Last season added five more braces from Lewandowski, Raphinha, Fermin, Marcus Rashford, and Ferran Torres.
What’s different now is how quickly these multi-goal performances are piling up. With 36 goals already, Flick’s squad is on pace to make this scoring spree one for the history books.
Summary of Multi-Goal Performances This Season
- Total Goals in First Eight Matches: 36
- Multi-Goal Individual Performances: 9 (7 braces, 2 hat-tricks)
- Raphinha Goals: 14 (including multiple braces and hat-tricks)
- Lamine Yamal Goals: 7 (with several braces)
- Fermin Lopez Goals: 4 (including a brace)
- Assist Leaders: Lamine Yamal and Anthony Gordon (4 each)
