FC Barcelona broke an unwanted record by beating Porto in the Champions League, and are now the best … [+] team in the elite European competition.
Getty ImagesFC Barcelona broke an unwanted record by beating Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday and are now the best team in the elite European competition after failing to qualify out of its group phase since the 2020/2021 season.
Head coach Xavi Hernandez believed his men had „gotten rid of the ghosts“ on the continent after sealing a 1-0 win that came via a Ferran Torres strike on the stroke of half time.
It had been said before the match that taking home all three points from northern Portugal would represent Barca’s first away win of note since topping Juventus 2-0 on October 28, 2020.
But as SPORT pointed out on Thursday morning, the Catalans were also able to nip another unwanted record in the bud by making sure they lead Group H.
This is because last night’s fixture was the first time since November 2, 2021 that Barca hadn’t conceded away from home.
On that date, they beat Dynamo Kiev 1-0 in the Ukrainian capital thanks to an Ansu Fati winner.
Nine away games in the Champions League and Europa League followed after that, where Marc-Andre ter Stegen saw the ball hit the back of his net no fewer than 14 times in total.
The heaviest of the defeats was 3-0 against Bayern Munich, also in 20202/2021, who beat them 2-0 at the same Allianz Stadium last term as well.
Over at Mundo Deportivo, they highlight how Barca currently boast „the best numbers“ in the current edition of the tournament.
While there are three other teams – Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City – that have similarly achieved six points, Barca have bagged the joint-most goals.
Bayern and City have scored six like the Blaugrana, but they have let two and four in respectively to accumulate inferior goal differences.
For netting five and not conceding as of yet, Barca boast the best record in this aspect with +6.
By seeing off Shakhtar Donetsk in their next UCL meeting at home on October 25, they will also be well on their way to qualifying for the last 16 for the first time since Paris Saint-Germain dumped them out at that stage in 2021.