A defence's worst nightmare: MSN

A look at Barca's three-man goal and assist machine

Frighteningly for their opposition, Barcelona's three-pronged attack of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar is going from strength to strength. 

Barcelona smashed seven past Gary Neville's beleaguered Valencia in yesterday's Copa Del Rey semi-final first leg to make the return match academic. 

Luis Suarez grabbed four of Barca's haul, with Argentine wizard Messi notching the other three in their 7-0 win. Although he did assist twice, Neymar surprisingly failed to join the party - the Brazilian missing a rather strange penalty: waiting for an eternity before leathering it against the post.

4 - Suarez hit 4 goals in one game for the 1st time for #Barca, his second career 4-goal haul. #LFC v Norwich (5-1) his first. #playmaker

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 4, 2016

Either way, though, the MSN trio was pretty potent and with the Blaugrana three points clear at the top of La Liga and with a last-16 showdown with Arsenal on the horizon this month, now seems a good time to look a little more closely at Messi, Suarez and Neymar's sheer appetite for goals. 

Although Ballon D'or winner Messi is undoubtedly still the main man at the Nou Camp, the stats suggest that both Suarez and Neymar are doing their level best to outshine him. 

Narrowly ahead of Neymar, Messi trails Suarez in the goalscoring stakes: the Uruguayan hitting the net an impressive 35 times already this season - 11 times more than Barca's legendary No10. 

In terms of assists, both Messi and Suarez are lagging behind Neymar - the Brazilian wonderkid having laid on 17 goals for the Catalans this season. 

+ goals in all competitions #Barca 15/16
35 SUAREZ
24 MESSI
21 Neymar#dreamteam #playmaker

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 4, 2016

+ assists in all competitions #Barca 15/16
17 NEYMAR
11 SUAREZ
9 #Messi#dreamteam #playmaker

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 4, 2016

In terms of all-round contribution, therefore, Suarez is MSN's shining light: his participation in 46 goals this season illustrating that he has taken his game up another level since leaving Anfield and waiting out a ban for off-field discretions. 

+ goals + assists in all competitions #Barca 15/16
46 SUAREZ
38 NEYMAR
33 MESSI#dreamteam #playmaker

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 4, 2016

To add a little perspective, and give Messi his dues, Barca's Argentine has played less football than his South American peers due to an early-season injury. Quite what MSN are capable of achieving with all three fully-fit is a scary thought for Arsene Wenger to ponder prior to Barca's showdown with their English incarnation on 23 February. 

Recent history suggests that Barca may, indeed, have another gear to go in terms of goalscoring: their current crop slightly below the curve in comparison with the Class of 2011/12, who had scored 117 at this stage of the season and went onto score a staggering 190 goals in all competitions. 

105 - Barcelona have scored over 100 goals so far in 15/16 (105). The last time #Barca failed to score over 100 in a season was in 2004/05

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 4, 2016

+ goals #Barca after 39 games (all comps)
117 in 11/12
115 in 12/13 & 14/15
112 in 10/11
105 in 08/09,13/14 & 15/16 #playmaker

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 4, 2016

+ goals by season #Barca
190 in 2011/12 (Not Champions!)
175 in 2014/15
158 in 2008/09
154 in 2012/13
152 in 2010/11 #playmaker

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 4, 2016