Barcelona defeated Real Betis away from home in a thrilling encounter.
The victory leaves Hansi Flick's side sitting alone at the top of the LaLiga table ahead of the Clásico. Barcelona's goal tally this season has only been surpassed on two other occasions in the history of Europe's top five leagues. Next up for the Catalans are PSG and Real Madrid.
Real Betis was unable to stop Barcelona. In an exciting match featuring seven goals, the Catalans won 5-2 and now have 27 points from a possible 27 in LaLiga. They have achieved this while putting together a scoring record rarely seen in European football. Hansi Flick's team have already scored 39 goals, a tally with very few precedents in the history of the European game.
Barcelona have now won all nine of their LaLiga matches this season. They have done so with a formidable attack that has already scored 39 goals since the start of the campaign, striking fear into opponents across Europe. Only twice before has a team achieved a comparable feat in the history of Europe's top five leagues, according to historical records.
We have to go back to 1940 to find a team in one of Europe's five major leagues that scored more goals than Barcelona through the first nine league matches. On that occasion, Sevilla reached 42 goals, a record that remains the highest in Spanish football. Looking at the other major leagues, a similar scoring tally had not been seen since the 19th century.
England's Sunderland AFC scored 43 goals during the 1892-93 season. The Black Cats had already set a record the previous season. In 1891-92, they started their campaign with 39 goals. Sunderland and Sevilla are among the few teams in the history of Europe's major leagues that have scored more goals in their first nine league matches than Flick's current Barcelona side.
“It's great. It's a nice memory, but what we want is to win titles and achieve great things. I think we did a lot of things very well in attack, with intensity. It wasn't an easy match. We played at a very good level. Betis played very well. I think we deserved the victory,” Flick said when assessing his team's form.
Barcelona equalled one of Real Madrid's major LaLiga records during a weekend in which they continued to make history. Until now, Los Blancos were the only team to win their opening nine league matches consecutively, achieving the feat in the 1968-69 season. Barcelona has now matched that record and could break it against José Mourinho's side next week at Camp Nou in the first Clásico of the season. Hansi Flick's team show no signs of slowing down as they continue their pursuit of history.
