One more point than last season

Marc Guillén

Barça have put in better stats in terms of points, shots and winning the ball back compared with the same stage of last season, having taken a point more than they did when they recorded their record breaking number of points last year.

Once again, Guardiola’s team have beaten a seemingly unbeaten record. With the win over Villarreal, the team moved to 28 points, out of a possible 33 in the first 11 games of the campaign, one more than last season.

Great away form
This season’s team have based their great start on some brilliant away form, winning five out of five on the road, with 13 goals scored and only 3 conceded. At the same stage last year, the numbers were 10 scored and 3 conceded, with 3 wins and 3 draws in six away games.

It’s not been quite so good a record at the Nou Camp though, where the defeat to Hercules and the draw with Mallorca has meant 5 dropped points, compared to last year’s 100% record at the same stage.

More shots, fewer goals
Looking beyond the points, Barça have had more shots, but scored 4 fewer goals, whilst winning back more possession. This year the team average 16,8 shots per game and have received 7,5 compared to last year’s stats of 15,4 and 8,4.

The biggest difference is in the amount of possession won back, with an astonishing figure of 67 balls won back per game, compared to 56 last year.