Barcelona set 82-year scoring record in Sevilla thrashing | OneFootball

It's easy to forget that Barcelona ended 2024 with consecutive defeats.

The Catalan giants had cooled after a riotous start to the new campaign under Hansi Flick, limping into the winter break on the back of a 2-1 home defeat to Atletico Madrid. However, the German coach was defiant.

"That's how we want to play," Flick said after a spirited performance. "We have to take this into next year and get better results." That challenge has been emphatically met.

Barcelona are unbeaten across their first 11 matches of 2025 and have racked up a staggering 41 goals - the most the club has ever recorded at this stage of a new calendar year since 1943, per Opta.

A 4-1 thrashing of Sevilla on Sunday night represented arguably a slight dip compared to their rampant start - Barcelona have scored five or more goals five times already this year. Real Madrid, for comparison, who boast that fabled front four of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham, have achieved that feat in just four games across the entire season.

Madrid have found themselves on the wrong side of a Barcelona blitz this year, losing 5-2 to their eternal rivals in the Supercopa de Espana final.

Barcelona have been on a prolific run this year / David Ramos/GettyImages

Carlo Ancelotti's side may lead the La Liga table, but following a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Saturday, Barcelona are only two points adrift. Diego Simeone even rates the Catalans as the best side in Spain.

A swollen tally of 12 different players have scored for Barcelona this year alone, with Robert Lewandowski (eight) and a rejuvenated Raphinha (seven) leading the way.

Back in 1943, Joan Josep Nogues could count upon 13 different scorers during his side's prolific start to the new year. Despite boasting the attacking might of Cesar Rodriguez - who would go on to reign as Barcelona's official top scorer until a certain Lionel Messi eclipsed his tally of 234 goals while he was still 24 - Mariano Martin was Barcelona's difference maker back in the '40s.

The boyish striker accounted for more than a fifth of Barcelona's haul, including a brace in a 5-5 draw with Real Madrid to start 1943. Less than six months earlier, Martin's goals had helped Barcelona defeat Murcia in a relegation play-off to maintain the club's ever-present status in Spain's top flight.

Shortly after 1943 ended, Martin sustained a severe knee injury which he never fully recovered from, crystallising his goalscoring burst in the glory of a lost prime. He wasn't even 24.