Barcelona rediscover long-range shooting firepower with best returns since 2018/19 season – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona’s first season under Hansi Flick couldn’t have gone much better. With a clear vision and tactical flair, the German manager has not only restored a sense of identity to the club but also guided them to an impressive domestic treble, recapturing both silverware and the fans’ hearts in the process.

It is not just that Barcelona have won all these trophies but the manner in which they have done so is quite remarkable. Flick’s team play a brand of extremely attacking football and this has offered a lot of excitement to the fans.

For the first time since the days of Pep Guardiola and subsequently Luis Enrique, Barcelona are playing a brand of football that the fans can actually get behind. The goals have kept coming throughout the campaign and the team are one goal away from 100 in La Liga this season.

Barcelona’s shot volume and goals scored numbers have been generally high this season. (Source: DataMB)

Shooting from range

Spanish report SPORT has now highlighted one key metric in which Barcelona have stood out this season when it comes to goalscoring. Hansi Flick’s men have scored 23 goals from outside the penalty area, which is the same they managed back in 2018/19.

Back then, Barcelona had one of the best long-range goal scorers in the history of the sport in Lionel Messi but he doesn’t play for the club anymore. With one more game to go in the season, the Catalan club have the opportunity to go one better.

Lamine Yamal at the forefront

Unsurprisingly, Lamine Yamal has been the protagonist in this regard with 7 of his goals coming from range. Along with Real Madrid super Kylian Mbappe, the Spaniard is leading the charts in the top-5 leagues in this regard.

Lamine and Mbappe dominating the charts with long shots. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Raphinha, Ferran Torres, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo have all contributed in this regard. However, it comes as quite a surprise that Pole striker Robert Lewandowski has scored just one goal from outside the penalty box all season.

Barcelona’s range-shooting has been a diminishing skill ever since Messi left the club until the start of the current campaign. It is good to see that Hansi Flick has managed to get his team to rediscover their ability to score from range.

With one match left to play, Barcelona have the chance to surpass their long-range scoring tally from the Messi era; this time, powered by a new generation. If they can add one more to their total against Athletic Bilbao, it would cap off a season that has been as exciting statistically as it has emotionally. One thing is certain: under Flick, Barcelona’s flair for the spectacular is back.