According to The Athletic, Barcelona aimed to sign Lewandowski this summer to enhance their attacking movement, but Raphinha's role as a temporary center-forward has proven to be completely successful.

The report states: "Everyone always wants a striker who can score 40 goals a season, but I can tell you that this team will not lack goals."

These words came from Pedri during an interview with Spanish TV channel Movistar while discussing Barcelona's title defense this season. They defeated Valencia and Flick's side won comfortably 5-0.

Barcelona leads La Liga with four wins from four matches and has scored 17 goals. What's truly impressive is not only how they've been playing, but also the manner in which they've been winning.

After failing to sign their desired striker Lewandowski this summer, Barcelona is now operating without a traditional center-forward. In Flick's revamped attacking setup, Raphinha plays as the center-forward, with Yamal and Anthony Gordon on the wings. Against Valencia, Fermín, Pedri, and Rodri controlled the midfield behind them, while Olmo and Bernal came off the bench.

Adeyemi and Jesus also featured as substitutes, with Jesus coming in during Arsenal's final day of the transfer window.

Yamal opened the scoring with a fine goal in the 6th minute. Fermín, Raphinha, Pedri, and Yamal then added four more goals, demonstrating Barcelona's textbook attacking football. The team's movement, understanding between players, and relentless pressing make them incredibly dominant for any opponent this season.

Valencia find themselves in an extremely difficult situation, with their players struggling to cope with the pressure during the match. Throughout the game, Valencia fans called for the owner to step down and the manager to be sacked.

However, Valencia will not be the first opponent Barcelona have dismantled this season, nor will they be the last.

Flick took over as Barcelona manager in May 2024. Measured by expected goals, two of the seven highest-quality opportunities in La Liga during his tenure have come this season. Barcelona recorded 4.38 expected goals in their 2-0 win over Bilbao and 4.23 in their 5-0 away victory over Elche.

While the sample size is still very small for definitive conclusions, Barcelona's average expected goals per match this season has reached 3.93. In the previous La Liga season, their average was 2.28, and in 2024-25 it was 2.43. Raphinha leads the La Liga scoring chart with 6 goals from 4 matches, Fermín has 4 goals and 2 assists, and Yamal has recently opened his goal-scoring record with back-to-back goals.

Flick said in the post-match press conference: "I'm very satisfied with how we're playing right now. We're working very hard and in the final third we're making the best use of the space. And individual quality allows us to take advantage of these opportunities."

"For me, our plan hasn't changed. We still want a center-forward at the club. But because we have a lot of quality in our attack and midfield, many players can now score goals."

Barcelona's priority this summer was to build a dynamic, mobile attacking force. That's why they pursued Lewandowski. Flick and Deco wanted not just a traditional, physically strong target man, but someone with movement and unpredictability, and both believed this was the direction for the team's evolution.

Now with Raphinha playing as center-forward, Barcelona already possesses these characteristics. Flick has seamlessly adapted to this new role this season. He can drop into midfield, act as a deep creator, send long balls to wingers like Gordon and Yamal, and make runs into the box whenever opportunities arise.

Fermín is also performing at the highest level, and it now seems unlikely that Barcelona would consider selling him at a reasonable price in the summer of 2025. The understanding between this player and Yamal on the right flank is seamless. He thrives in the wide spaces this new system creates.

Flick's substitute options this season also differ from last season. Both Adeyemi and Jesus have made contributions, and the former Arsenal striker came close to scoring. Olmo came off the bench with about 30 minutes remaining and created two goals.

While Lewandowski would have been a significant addition, the club is performing so well that Barcelona fans won't spend time dwelling on what might have been. The last time Barcelona scored the most goals in their opening four matches was in the 1950-51 season.

Flick added: "Even after the World Cup winners return, what I'm seeing from these players is their desire to succeed even more."

"This season is still very long and we know it will be extremely difficult to reach all the objectives we've set. But we will certainly try."

"We're a very small team and I think we've made the right changes. But this is just the beginning."

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