Montjuïc, the magic fortress

Anyone who said FC Barcelona might struggle playing games at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys has been proved very, very wrong. Since April 29 last season, Barça have won every single competitive game they have played there, starting with a 4-2 defeat of Valencia and followed by victories over Real Sociedad, Rayo Vallecano, Athletic Club, Valladolid, Getafe, Young Boys and now Sevilla, the longest streak of home wins since the team started playing at Montjuïc. 

And there have been some big wins in that collection, with no fewer than 29 goals being scored (3.6 per game), and three games with five or more. The biggest was the 7-0 destruction of Valladolid, while Young Boys and Sevilla both received five. At the other end, Barça have only let in four, and six of the eight games have ended with clean sheets.

And it's proving infectious. The win over Sevilla, despite being played on a Sunday night, was watched by a season-high of 47,848 spectators, topping the 46,448 that came to the game with Athletic Club. 

Another nice thing is that Barça have been getting the job done quickly. In fact, this is the first time EVER that the team has scored three or more goals in the first half of three consecutive games (Young Boys, Alavés (away) and Sevilla). All three of those games stood at 3-0 after the first 45 minutes. 

Pedri and Pablo Torre both scored from outside of the area against Sevilla, taking the season tally of such goals to seven, the team's best rate at this stage of the season for ten years, and also the highest in Europe's big five leagues (Manchester City are second with 9). Curiously, Pedri's goal was the longest of his career, beating the one scored in 2022 against the very same side, Sevilla!

Pablo Torre hasn't been getting too many chances, but he's been making the most of the ones he does. With his quick brace on Sunday, he now has three goals from his 202 minutes of football this season, an average of one every 67.33 minutes, ranking him seventh in Europe's five biggest leagues, with an almost identical record to fifth-placed Robert Lewandowski with a goal every 67.08 minutes.