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Football
06.11.2007 12:34
Guaranteed goals
Marc Guillén / Sergi Nogueras
Messi, Ronaldinho and Henry have scored 17 goals in the 11 league games played to date. That means the Barça forward line is tied with those of Arsenal and Juventus as the most productive in Europe.
Messi has 78 goals, while Henry and Ronaldinho have 5 each, and a glance at the performances of other forward lines around Europe suggest that those are stats to be proud of. Only Juventus and Arsenal can match that kind of effectiveness. Ronaldinho, Messi and Henry together have guaranteed 1.54 goals a league game.
Way ahead in Spain
The three Barça strikers are far more goal-happy than any
other set of strikers in La Liga. 14 is the best any other side can manage. Sevilla have 4 goals
courtesy of Kanouté, 7 of Luis Fabiano and 3 of Kerzakhov, while Real Madrid’s goalscoring
forwards have been Raúl (5), Van Nistelrooy (5) and Sneijder (4). Over at Atlético Madrid we find
Agüero (7), Forlán (4) and Maxi (3) while Mallorca have been supplied by Güiza (6), Arango (5) and
Ibagaza (3).
European competition
In Europe, only Arsenal and Juventus are on a par with
Barça. The Gunners’ trio of Cesc, Van Persie and Adebayor have also notched up 17 goals in 11
games. The Catalan has scored 6, the Dutchman 5 and the Togolese 6. The 17 goals scored by the
‘vecchia signora' forward line have been thanks to Trezeguet (10), Iaquinta (4) and Del Piero
(3).
More goals but lower average
Some forward lines have scored more goals than Barça but had more games in which to get them.
Bayern Munich’s Toni (8), Klose (8) and Ribery (2), for instance, have scored 18 goals but in
12 games, and Olympique Lyon’s Benzema (11), Govou (4) and Juninho (3) have scored the same
number in 13 games. That makes for averages of 1.50 and 1.38 goals a game, which falls short of
Barcelona’s mark.
