Hansi Flick targets Barcelona records after perfect La Liga start

Barcelona maintained their flawless start to the La Liga season under Hansi Flick with a 4-2 victory over Levante at the Ciutat de Valencia.

The win was Barcelona’s fifth in a row and kept them at the top of the table, while also placing Flick’s side on course to challenge two notable records in the club’s history.

According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Flick is aiming to match the achievement of his first season in charge of Barcelona, when he led the team to seven consecutive victories at the beginning of the league campaign.

That run equalled the best start in Barcelona’s history, a record first established by Tata Martino during the 2013-14 season.

Barcelona’s current sequence of five successive victories is the sixth time the club have reached that mark in the 21st century. The previous occasions came under Pep Guardiola in 2009-10, Tito Vilanova in 2012-13, Martino in the following season and Ernesto Valverde in 2017-18, as well as during Flick’s first season at the club.

The early campaign has also been notable for Barcelona’s attacking output. They have scored 21 goals across their opening five matches, leaving them just two short of the club record for that stage of a season.

That record was set in 1950-51 under manager Ferdinand Daucik, when Barcelona scored 23 times in their first five league games.

The forward Cesar Rodriguez was central to that remarkable start. He scored in each of the opening five matches and finished the season with 29 goals from 27 appearances.

Barcelona’s leading contributors this season have been Raphinha and Lamine Yamal. Both players have scored six goals during the opening five rounds, placing them at the heart of the team’s impressive attacking form.

With five victories already secured, Flick’s side need two more wins to equal the seven-match sequence achieved during his first campaign. They are also two goals away from matching Barcelona’s best-ever total after five league games.