Flick's Barcelona Opens the Season as Europe's Hottest Team

Seven matches, 33 goals scored and just 7 conceded. With numbers like that to open the season, it's hard to find a team in Europe going through as sweet a moment as Hansi Flick's Barcelona. And this isn't a two-week hot streak: the run stretches back to last season, when Barcelona won LaLiga by an eight-point margin and handed Newcastle an outright humiliation, 7-2, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16.

The only things missing were the Copa del Rey and the Champions League itself, and in both cases the same executioner knocked them out: Atletico Madrid. Everything else was a party, crowned by the World Cup: eight Barca players were part of the Spain squad that won it, six of them featuring in the final. And when Ferran Torres left (transferred to PSG), Rodri arrived from Manchester City, along with two signings who fit Flick's style like a glove: Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi.

Between Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, they've already combined for 19 goals and seven assists so far this season, while Gordon and Adeyemi have contributed three goals and six assists between them. It's true the schedule hasn't been demanding (the toughest opponent was Athletic Club, ranked 69th in the world by Opta, and the only team that kept Barca from scoring at least four goals), but the level on display suggests the team enters the first international break as the form side of the entire continent.

That's the conclusion drawn from adjusted goal difference, a metric that combines 30% goal difference and 70% xG in 11-versus-11 situations, without adjusting for opponent quality. It isn't meant to predict anything, it simply captures who's playing the best right now. And there, Barcelona leads with a +3.06 per game, a wide margin even by the standards of this ranking.

Bayern and Real Madrid in pursuit

Behind them sits Bayern Munich (+2.00), motivated after falling just short of the treble last season because of PSG. They opened by steamrolling their first five opponents by a combined 14-3, though they stumbled into a strange 0-0 draw against Schalke despite generating 15 shots and 1.9 xG. Harry Kane is going through a relative drought (two goals on 2.22 xG, far off the 61 goals he scored last campaign), but Michael Olise remains untouchable, and new names like Ismael Saibari and Lennart Karl are already contributing from the opening whistle.

Third is Real Madrid (+1.91), who alongside Barcelona seem to have turned LaLiga into a two-team race. At home they've been devastating: four wins as the host club for a combined scoreline of 14-3. Jose Mourinho returned to the bench and, so far, remains composed as he gets the team to run and defend in a way that eluded Xabi Alonso last season. Kylian Mbappe has eight goals and two assists in seven matches, showing just how well the transition-heavy style suits him.

Surprises and names to watch

Gian Piero Gasperini's Roma sits fourth (+1.69) after thrashing four Serie A opponents by a combined 12-1, with Donyell Malen unstoppable: six goals and an assist in five matches. Further down comes the list's biggest surprise: Bayer Leverkusen (+1.40), fifth despite having won just one of their three Bundesliga matches. The xG numbers suggest their opponents, including Elversberg and Augsburg, squeezed out five goals from barely 2.4 xG combined, something that should even out over time.

Arsenal round out the top six (+1.36), unbeaten since the Champions League final loss to PSG, and it's worth noting that if this list were adjusted for opponent difficulty, they would likely top the ranking outright, having already beaten Manchester City and Chelsea this season. Rounding out the upper tier are Inter Milan, Paris FC (unbeaten and boasting Ligue 1's best xG conceded figures), Brentford and Freiburg, the latter described as a German version of Brighton or Bournemouth for their knack of reinventing themselves season after season without dropping off.

Further down, between 11th and 30th, sit clubs like Mainz, PSG, Como, Juventus, Everton, Manchester United, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool and Sunderland, all with positive adjusted goal difference but still well off the pace being set at the top.