MADRID, 9 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
LaLiga EA Sports kicks off its 2023-2024 season this weekend and will do so with the aim of increasing its goalscoring records, which have been dropping year after year and have been able to harm the show somewhat, especially after the departure of the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and the Argentine Leo Messi.
The figures indicate that the League’s goalscoring records have been in clear decline in recent seasons. Last year, the competition reached a total of 955 goals, far from the 1,118 that were celebrated in 16-17 and very similar (951) to that of 21-22. Only Real Madrid (75), FC Barcelona (70) and Atlético de Madrid (70) scored 70 or more goals. Villarreal (59) and Girona (58) were next on this list.
And it is that, for the fourth consecutive season, the Spanish league, where previously the Madrid team and the blaugrana team exceeded or touched the hundred goals, was left without reaching 1,000 goals, a fact that has happened for the first time in the 21st century. In addition, in the last three seasons, it was the least prolific in terms of goals in the five major European leagues. Manchester City signed 94 last year in the Premier, two more than Bayern in the Bundesliga and five more than PSG in Ligue 1.
A collective lack of goal that is caused by the individual scoring deficiencies that have been decreasing with the gradual departure of Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suárez and Karim Benzema, who shared 13 of the last 14 ‘Pichichi’, something that only could break Robert Lewandowski last season.
In the last five seasons, only Messi (30 in 20-21) and Benzema (27 in 21-22) were able to exceed 25 goals, figures that the Pole did not reach, one of the best ‘9’ of this time and that remained at 23 goals, the lowest figure for this individual award since the 01-02 academic year when the Spanish striker for Deportivo de La Coruña Diego Tristán achieved it with 21 goals.
With the departure of the French striker to Saudi Arabia, Real Madrid faces a League for the first time since 2009 without any member of the successful ‘BBC’. First it was Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2018, then it was the turn of Gareth Bale, this one with a gradual ostracism that made him lose impact since 2019, and now, just two years after getting his first ‘Pichichi’, he got the turn to ‘9’.
REAL MADRID AND FC BARCELONA DROP FROM TWO GOALS PER MATCH
Now, without the Lyon striker, the 14-time European champion is left without any player in the current squad who has managed to score 20 or more goals throughout his career in league competitions, which may further increase the collapse of his goalscoring records since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Real Madrid has gone from averaging 2.81 goals per game during the seasons that the Portuguese defended the white shirt to 1.87 per game since 2018-2019. A drop of almost one goal per game difference in the League that is transferred to the general numbers of the competition.
The same happens in the case of FC Barcelona, where Leo Messi has marked the most glorious era of the Barça team in its history. However, that perfect marriage between the Argentine and the Catalan club broke two summers ago with the departure of the ’10’ to PSG. His all-time top scorer in the League (474 goals) was leaving Barça and as was evident, the culé scoring production also noticed it. The Barça team has gone from averaging 2.68 goals in the League (since the 08-09 season) to 1.82 in the last two seasons.
A lack of goalscorers in LaLiga that is also reflected in the national product since Spain has suffered in recent years from a great goalscoring striker. In the last league, Joselu Mato won the ‘Zarra’ trophy that distinguishes the top Spanish scorer in the domestic championship with 16 goals, the worst record since the award began to be awarded in 2006. Furthermore, only Gerard Moreno in the 20th -21 with Villarreal has been able to exceed the figure of 20 goals (23) in a league campaign in the last five years.
LEWANDOWSKI AND THE YOUNG TALENT, THE GREAT HOPE
Despite the goal crisis in which the Spanish league is submerged, there are data for hope. Despite the fact that his numbers last season were not the best of his career, LaLiga EA Sports has one of the best goalscorers in football history, Robert Lewandowski.
The Pole, who won the Pichichi in his first year in Spain, is along with Messi the player who has been the top scorer the most times in the five major leagues (8). This year he has no other individual objective than to improve his records, something that taking into account his better adaptation to Spanish football and that the figure of 23 goals from 22-23 is one of the lowest in his career, not seems too complicated.
To the reliability of the Pole must be added the scorers who are yet to explode in LaLiga. One of the most obvious cases is that of Real Madrid players Vinícius Jr and Rodrygo. The attacking couple of Real Madrid are clearly on the rise and their goalscoring figures are improving, but they will have to go one step further to compensate for the departure of Benzema.