The headline on the Catalan Mundo Deportivo “Pessimism at the Camp Nou when it comes to January reinforcements” does not sound too exciting, right? Despite the departure of Memphis Depay, Barcelona have no money for newcomers. However, if you look at the state of the table – maybe they don’t need any, because Blaugrana are still first with three points ahead of Real Madrid, and not only that – they have the best defense in Europe!It’s not a joke. If we look at the ‘top five’ leagues, and other league are not even close to that level, this season no one has allowed fewer goals to their rivals than Xavi’s company: only six in the opening 17 rounds.##NAJAVA_MECA_6971307##This is Barcelona’s new record – previous were held by the squads led by Terry Venables in the 1986/1987 season and then by Ernesto Valverde in 2017/2018. Both have conceded seven goals in 17 games.In fact, in the long history of the Spanish championship, only “Super Depor” generation have conceded less. In the 1993/1994 season, the Deportivo La Coruna team of Arsenio Iglesias, with Francisco “Paco” Liano between the posts, conceded five goals in 17 first games. At the end of that season Liano embraced the “Zamora Trophy” for the best goalkeeper with a record of only 0.47 goals conceded in 38 La Liga games.Ter Stegen is currently averaging 0.35!❗| FC Barcelona have the best defence in Europe – conceding only 6 goals in 17 matches.@sergisoleMD [🎖️] pic.twitter.com/9LcQ8A5pqj— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) January 24, 2023 Real Sociedad’s Alexander Isak, then Karim Benzema, Fede Valverde and Rodrygo (from the penalty spot) in the defeat by Real Madrid, then Osasuna’s David Garcia and Espanyol’s Joselu (again from the penalty spot). These are the only players who managed to defeat Ter Stegen in Primera Division this season. Joselu was the only one to do it at Camp Nou.The fact is that this season no one is even close to Barca. In Spain, Villarreal are the closest (13 goals conceded, an average of 0.72 per match), Atlético Madrid (16/0.88) and Real Madrid (16/0.94). Outside of Spain, Newcastle (11 conceded goals in 20 games for an average of 0.55), Lens (13/0.68), Napoli (14/0.74) and Bayern (16/0.88) are the leaders). Other giants like Paris Saint-Germain (19/0.74) or Manchester City (20/1) are not even close.
