If there is one team turning heads wherever it goes right now, it is Hansi Flick’s FC Barcelona. In his third season, the German coach has finally fine-tuned every part of the machine, putting together a squad that is as balanced as it is pragmatic.

Curiously, it is in attack, where everyone expected him to face the biggest challenges – especially following the departures of Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski – that the benefits of the changes have been most apparent. The arrivals of Karim Adeyemi, Anthony Gordon and Gabriel Jesus, combined with Raphinha’s emergence as a prolific goalscorer, have taken Barcelona’s attack to another level.

Right now, nobody can get close to the Catalan giants. No team in Europe comes remotely close to matching their numbers. And it is not just that Barcelona have won all 10 of their games this season – eight in LaLiga and two in the Champions League – but the sheer ease with which they are dispatching opponents, racking up emphatic victories game after game. Their narrowest win so far was a 2-0 victory over Athletic Club at Spotify Camp Nou.

Barcelona have already scored 43 goals, an astonishing average of 4.3 per game. The closest team in terms of scoring average is Bayern Munich, with 3.4 goals per game after finding the net 24 times in seven matches. The rest of Europe’s elite are miles behind when it comes to attacking statistics.

Take Paris Saint-Germain, for example. The French champions, arguably the only team currently capable of going toe-to-toe with Barcelona, have scored 21 goals in eight matches – 11 in Ligue 1 and 10 in the Champions League – for an average of 2.6 per game. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have to settle for an average of 2.5, having scored 25 goals: 19 in LaLiga and six in Europe.

And the comparisons could go on, with Barcelona’s numbers looking increasingly impressive against the rest of the continent. Italian champions Inter Milan sit third in the scoring rankings, averaging 2.75 goals per game, with 22 goals in total – 18 in Serie A and four in the Champions League.

Manchester City, the current Premier League leaders, have scored 20 goals – 16 domestically and four in Europe – giving them an average of 2.5 per game.

With such an extraordinary attacking record, it is hardly surprising that Barcelona are now the team everyone wants to beat. With all due respect to Real Betis, who host the Catalans on Saturday, Tuesday’s clash in Paris promises to be the closest thing to a decisive battle for supremacy in European soccer.

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