FC Barcelona spent the summer fretting who their starting striker would be after letting Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, the top two strikers from last season, go.
They chased Atlético Madrid’s Julián Alvarez through the entire transfer window to no avail.
And yet, Barça cannot stop scoring. They once again put more than five goals past their opponents. This time seven, in fact, in a 7-2 demolition of Racing Santander.
It’s the fifth time Barcelona have scored five or more goals across seven matches
this season. In the other two games, they scored a meager four and two, against Levante and Athletic Club, respectively.
It’s safe to say Hansi Flick loves attacking.
Raphinha has excelled in the #9 position and he was up to his usual again. He scored a hat-trick in 67 minutes before being substituted by Gabriel Jesus, the one striker Barcelona did tie down over the summer. Jesus, by the way, also scored.
Despite moving Raphinha from the wing to the center, Barça have plenty of depth in the wide areas. Lamine Yamal got a goal and two assists as he continues his potentially Ballon d’Or-winning form, though he did miss a penalty.
Karim Adeyemi has looked good when called upon. He started and gave an assist against Racing. The team also has Anthony Gordon, a new signing who has hit the ground running. Fermín López has also given the team plenty of goals, either from midfield or as an improvised forward. He’s third on the team with four goals, after Yamal’s seven and Raphinha’s nine.
The rest of the goals against Racing were provided by João Cancelo and an own goal from Asier Villalibre.
If there’s one negative to take away from all this firepower and a team that has gone seven-wins-for-seven-games, it’s that the defending could use some work. There is some concern, perhaps, in that they have shipped five goals in the past three matches.
Complicating matters is that goalkeeper Joan Garcia went down injured and was subbed off, reportedly as a precaution, against Racing. Wojciech Szczęsny came in and did not cover himself in glory. The team also has Dominik Livaković, another new signing, to call upon between the posts.
However, playing this incredibly high line that takes a lot of risks, it’s natural that Barça leave themselves exposed to conceding. Flick’s bet is that they’ll always score one more.
The biggest question is whether they can do it over two legs in the UEFA Champions League against elite opposition. That’s the hurdle that has tripped up Barcelona in the Flick era.
