5 statistics that sum up Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona

#3 Barcelona have the second-best defence in Europe’s Top 5 leagues (13 goals conceded)

Ter Stegen has been a revelation this season

Much of Barcelona’s recent success was due to their attacking philosophy. Don’t get me wrong, their defence has always coped well but it was never their strength.

However, this season, things are a bit different as Barcelona have conceded just 13 goals in 26 La Liga games so far, making it the second-best defence in Europe’s Top 5 leagues.The best record belongs to their La Liga rivals, Atletico Madrid, who have conceded just 11 goals so far.

One of the main reasons behind this drastic improvement has been the form of Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The German has kept 15 clean sheets already with a mind-blowing average of 4.77 saves per goal conceded!

To put things into perspective, David de Gea, often considered as the world’s best goalkeeper, averages 4.37 saves per goal conceded!

Ter Stegen’s counterpart at Atletico Madrid, Jan Oblak, has conceded fewer goals but both keepers have made 62 saves each in the league so far.

Maybe, it is time to put the Barcelona shot-stopper on par with the world’s best.