Barcelona offensive duo ruling Europe with stellar numbers this season

Barcelona could not have hoped for a better way to end the league stage of the UEFA Champions League.

While Hansi Flick’s men did drop two points against Atalanta last night, they finished second in the standings and were only marginally behind Liverpool who lost against PSV. Had the Catalans taken three points against Atalanta, they would be sole leaders.

The dressing room will not read too much into the second-placed finish, especially given the dominant manner in which they came back from the defeat to AS Monaco on match-day 1.

The blazing attack

Barcelona’s success so far in the Champions League is indeed down to improved performances across the park. The forwards, however, merit the most credit and the team’s goal difference speaks volumes.

Flick’s men ended the league stage with a stunning 28 goals scored, six goals ahead of the next highest-scoring team Borussia Dortmund.

Their exceptional attacking performance was second to none as they took home huge wins against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Benfica with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha particularly stepping up in blazing form.

The top-scorer of the league stage. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)

The Polish striker finished the league stage as the top scorer with nine goals to his name, and Raphinha followed closely with eight scalps. 

In terms of assists, the Brazilian was up there once again with four to his name, only surpassed by Charles De Ketetaere who had five. He scored a hat-trick against Bayern Munich, a brace against Benfica and racked up two assists last night vs Atalanta.

After five years of back-to-back humiliations in Europe, Barcelona are finally back as one of the favourites in the event and this could well be their year. 

The path to the trophy, however, will be anything but simple from here on, and the manager will need his forwards to be in top shape in the knockouts. The priority, however, will be to fix the defence.