Record or bad omen? Barcelona's scoring start puts them in the jaws of a historic curse

Highest goal tally in the top five leagues

Barcelona produced another stunning display at the Mestalla, thrashing Valencia 5-0 on Sunday to move top of La Liga outright.

Hansi Flick's side have scored 17 goals in their first four matches. That's one of the best goalscoring starts in the club's history and the highest current tally in Europe's top five leagues.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have found the net more often this season than in any other bar the 1949-1950 (19 goals) and 1950-1951 (21 goals) campaigns.

Coach Enrique Fernández Viola led the side in that first season (1949-1950), when they crushed Nàstic de Tarragona (10-1) and Sevilla (7-0) at Les Corts but suffered heavy defeats to Real Madrid (6-1) and Athletic Bilbao (3-1).

The following year, with Ferdinand Daučík in charge, Barcelona hammered Real Sociedad (8-2) at home and beat Real Madrid (7-1) in a replay, despite two away defeats to Atlético Madrid (6-4) and Real Murcia (3-2).

For all that firepower, Barcelona won neither league title. Both went to Atlético Madrid.

Domènec Balmanya's men in 1957-1958 and Pep Guardiola's final season in 2011-2012 also managed 17 goals in their first four La Liga matches. Neither ended in a title, with Real Madrid claiming the trophy on both occasions.

After this flying start, Flick's Barcelona now face the challenge of keeping the records tumbling on their way to a third consecutive league title.