Strong start at the back

A lot has been said in recent days about Barça's attacking power, and rightly so. Lewandowski, Raphinha, Ansu, Dembélé et al have been one fine form, scoring eight goals in just two games. But it should also be noted than in 270 minutes of football, the Catalans have only let in one goal.

That's a vast improvement on last season, when the team had already conceded four by this stage, with Neto having played the first two games and Ter Stegen the third.

Ter Stegen, 88.8% save rate

With 8 saves from the 9 attempts against him, the German stopper has found some fine early season form. An 88.8% save rate is the best for the team after three games since 2017/18, when Barça started with three consecutive clean sheets.

Preseason too

This fine defensive record is something that was already showing during the preseason. Four of Barça's six games were shutouts. Only Juventus and Olot registered goals against the blaugrana. Inter Miami, Real Madrid, NY Red Bulls and Pumas all failed in the mission.