Barcelona's tight defence heading for a record
The Blaugrana backline have been miserly in La Liga, conceding just six goals
Nobody wins La Liga in January, but you can start to lose it there. It shows where each team is and what battle they will be engaged in from now until the end. Barca knew they would not win the league last season after 16 weeks, down in seventh and 15 points off leaders Real Madrid. They finished as champions.
A year later, and Xavi's work shows that this is another Barca. More reliable, solid and competitive. The growth is undeniable and the best proof is that, after the same 16 weeks, Barca are first, three points ahead of Madrid. Los Blancos have a point more than last season, on 39, while Barca have 17 more, from 24 to 41.
A stat which is absolutely revealing of the change that the team has gone through, for multiple reasons.
Barca have let in only six goals, with no other club in Europe able to equal that statistic in their league. Juventus had shipped seven but were battered 5-1 by Napoli in the last week so have now let in 12.
Arsenal, Premier League leaders, have let in 14, while Newcastle, England's best defence, have only let in 11.
Bayern Munich have let in 13 as Bundesliga leaders, with PSG the same in France, albeit having played three more games.
Benfica in Porto have shopped 12, while Twente in the Netherlands have let in nine.
The number is so exceptional that there are few precedents at Camp Nou. They let in seven in 17-18 in the same number of games, and the same in 14-15 too. Both times Barca won the league.
Last season they had let in 18 goals at this point, 16 the year before, and 18 before that in 19-20, 19 in 18-19.
Next, Xavi has to work on business at the other end of the pitch. Barca have scored 35, one less than Real Madrid, higher than their tally of 24 last season.
In 20-21 they scored one less than this season at this point, but the 35 goals are far from the 41 in 19-20, or 46 in 18-19 - the last league title winning season, with Ernesto Valverde on the bench.
And very far from the 54 they scored in 12-13, the 50 in 11-12 and 51 in 10-11 after 17 games.
