Best defense of all time? Barcelona’s sensational defensive record is within reach, Mourinho’s feat shakes the foundations

Barcelona are unstoppable on the league scene this season at least. They rightly hold the top spot in the league table, with eight rounds to go they have an eleven-point lead over Real Madrid and a respectable defensive record.

Xavi is doing an incredible job with the Barcelona team. In Europe, the Catalan giant may not be able to get the trophy, but the situation in the league is in his hands and his hands alone.

After thirty league rounds, Barcelona has 76 points, eleven points ahead of second placed Real Madrid. It has lost only twice. And a score of 54:9 is unprecedented.

Xavi’s selection is the first team in the history of the top seven European leagues to score less than ten goals in the first thirty rounds. This is, in short, a phenomenal feat, but it may not be the final one.

Marc-André ter Stegen has already kept 23 clean sheets this season. He has only cashed in seven games. While he has a good defence in front of him, he is in excellent form himself, helping to make a potentially interesting record.

Barcelona may in fact produce the best defence of all time this season. At least, that is, if the best defence of all time is to be seen in terms of how many goals it scores.

So far, Chelsea hold the historic record in the top five leagues, having only conceded 15 goals in the 2004/05 season under Jose Mourinho. Petr Cech was in goal then, with players like William Gallas, John Terry and Paulo Ferreira ahead of him.

So if Barcelona want to break the record, they must not concede more than five goals in the last eight league rounds. In these, they will face Vallecano, Betis, Osasuna, Espanyol, Real Sociedad, Valladolid, Mallorca and Celta Vigo.

Barcelona have traditionally had great defenders in their ranks, however, they have never been seen as a defensive-minded team. Or rather, its game has never been based on defence. That makes this statistic all the more sensational.

Source: Marca, PurelyFootball, La Liga