Barça quick off the mark
Hansi Flick's third season in charge of FC Barcelona has begun with more goals than ever. Barça have already scored 26 times in just six games, and one particularly striking feature of that remarkable tally is how quickly they have been getting off the mark: in five of their six matches, the Catalans have scored inside the opening 20 minutes.
In the last three games, Barça have wasted even less time. Lamine Yamal against Valencia, Raphinha against Feyenoord and Espart against Levante all found the net inside the opening six minutes.
The trend began on the opening day of the LaLiga season, when Raphinha scored Barça's first goal of the campaign from the penalty spot in the 14th minute.
The wait was rather longer in the second league game, the first of the season at Spotify Camp Nou against Athletic Club, when Barça did not find the net until after the half-hour mark. Once again, Raphinha was the scorer. Then, when Rayo visited the stadium, the Madrid side struck first, but the Brazilian was there again in the 19th minute to bring Barça level.
On the second away trip of the campaign, it was Lamine Yamal's turn to strike early, opening the scoring after just six minutes against Valencia. Then came the switch to European competition and the 2026/27 Champions League opener, when Raphinha needed just three minutes to score against Feyenoord, Barça's quickest goal of the season so far.
Finally, on LaLiga matchday five, Xavi Espart completed the sequence with his first goal in a Barça shirt. The full-back opened the scoring against Levante in the fifth minute to make it five games out of six in which Barça have found the net before the 20-minute mark.