5 statistics that sum up Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona
Barcelona’s final season under Luis Enrique was an underwhelming one and it wasn’t particularly surprising when the club opted to start afresh in the summer.
Ernesto Valverde was named as the new manager and once again a former Barcelona player was at the helm. It was Valverde’s Athletic Bilbao that beat Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate in the Supercopa de Espana in 2015.
The new manager’s first official match in-charge was against Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana and it was baptism by fire as Barcelona lost both legs and conceded the trophy to their arch rivals.
Since that defeat, things have only gotten better for the Catalan club and these five statistics sum up Barcelona’s season so far under their new manager.
#5 Club record unbeaten run in league - 33 games
After losing his first two matches in charge of the club, Valverde has tasted defeat just once in all competitions since (a 1-0 defeat to Espanyol in the Copa del Rey).
In the league, the team has not tasted defeat yet under the new manager, winning 20 and drawing 6 of their games so far. This coupled with the last seven league games under Luis Enrique takes the team’s unbeaten run in the league to 33 games, surpassing the previous club record 32 match unbeaten streak set by Pep Guardiola’s side in 2010/11!
The all-time La Liga record for an unbeaten streak currently belongs to Real Sociedad, who went unbeaten for 38 games between 1979 and 1980.
Valverde has a win percentage of 69.77 and has faced defeat only thrice in his 43 games in charge. Since losing both legs in the Supercopa de Espana, Barcelona have faced the likes of Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Real Madrid without losing a game.