Barcelona trident looks to challenge the historic numbers of the iconic ‘MSN’ trio | OneFootball

Historically, FC Barcelona has been home to some of the best forwards in football history. From the likes of Ronaldo Nazario to Lionel Messi, many greats of the game have represented the club at one point or another. However, as far as legendary feats go, one Barcelona trident stands out more than any other.

The attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar Jr was quite possibly the greatest frontline ever assembled in football. By taking the best Argentinian player of his era and pairing him up with Uruguay’s finest and Brazil’s biggest star since Pele himself, Barcelona assembled arguably football’s greatest trident.

Between themselves, the three South American forwards made history in Europe while representing Barcelona. Particularly through their goalscoring, they managed to reach figures that no other trident in modern-day football could even dare to get close to. However, there might finally be a worthy challenger now given the way that the team has been playing.

As highlighted by SPORT, the current Barcelona trident of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Lamine Yamal could potentially look to come close to those numbers. While it would be next to impossible to match their best numbers, they could still get very close to them at the very least if they continue to play as they have.

In their very best season, the ‘MSN’ trio of Messi, Suarez, and Neymar Jr managed to score 131 goals between them during the 2015/2016 campaign. During that season, Suarez scored 59 goals, Messi contributed 41 goals, and Neymar added in 31 as well. Their second-best season after that in terms of output was the 2014/2015 season, in which they scored a total of 122 goals.

The season in which they had the least number of goals scored was the 2016/2017 campaign, which was also their final one together. In that particular season, they scored a total of 110 goals, which is still an incredibly high total despite being their lowest together.

Now, in the current season, the Barcelona trio of Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Yamal have been flying high as well. With the Polish striker having scored 31 goals, Raphinha having 24 and Yamal having scored 11, they are averaging 1.83 goals between them per game. While it would be close to impossible to reach the very best levels that ‘MSN’ produced, they could still possibly touch the 110 goal mark they set in their final season together.

Currently, the Barcelona trio has 66 goals this season in 36 games. If they end up playing every possible game this season, while also maintaining a similar average, they could end up reaching a projected 111.6 goals by the end of the season. However, considering the possibility of disadvantages factors that will not be in their control, even that figure may be hard to reach. Still, even the team’s overall goalscoring numbers this season are nothing short of extraordinary.