Who Is the Best Team in Europe?

With the Champions League quarter-finals only a week away it is not too early to stir up the debate on who is the best team in Europe. A certain team in La Liga is laying claim to that title as they rewrite the record book this season.

The partnership of Samuel Eto’o, Leo Messi, and Thierry Henry have scored an amazing 59 goals this season. Eto’o, who was not wanted at Barca last year, leads La Liga with 25 goals, while Messi has chipped in 19 and Henry 15. If between them they can score another seven goals this season they will tie the record set by another famous trio, Di Stefano, Puskas, and Del Sol (Real Madrid) who scored 66 goals between them in the 1960-61 season.

The rest of the Barcelona team has scored 25 goals this season, bringing the total to 84 goals in 28 games which works out to be three goals a game. How does that compare to the other top teams in Europe?

In the rest of La Liga, Real Madrid as expected is second in goals scored per game with an average of 2.36. Atletico Madrid’s with the partnership of Aguero and Forlan are averaging two goals a game, followed by Valencia (1.78), Villareal, and Malaga (1.61).

The other high scoring team in the Champions League has been Bayern Munich and it is no surprise to see that with the trio of Klose, Toni, and Ribery that Bayern lead the Bundesliga with and average of 2.12 goals per game. Behind Bayern is cinderella team Hoffenheim with 2.08 goals and Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen with 1.84 goals. Surprisingly, Bundesliga leaders Hertha are only seventh in the goal scoring stakes with just 1.56 goals per game.

In the Serie A, Jose Mourinho has a reputation for being a defensive coach, but his Inter team lead the Serie A goal scoring race with 1.86 goals per game. Inter are followed by Juventus and Milan at 1.76 goals per game, and Roma with 1.52 goals.

What about the Premiership, home of four of the best teams in Europe? Well Liverpool's recent goal scoring blitz has pushed them to the top of the goal scoring race with an average of 1.80 goals per game, while Man United are second at 1.69 followed by Chelsea (1.63), Arsenal (1.6), and Manchester City (1.53).

What makes Barcelona’s goal scoring escapades this season so impressive is that despite leading Europe in goal scoring they have only conceded 24 goals this year in La Liga. The next six weeks will tell if Barcelona are really the best team in Europe, but so far this season they have been playing like it.