Borussia Dortmund supersub Paco Alcacer the sharpest striker in Europe
Currently the joint-top goalscorer in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund’s Paco Alcacer is also the sharpest striker in Europe this season. If the Spaniard hits the target he finds the net, and no forward can match his record of a league goal every 28 minutes.
bundesliga.com takes a closer look at the 25-year-old’s impressive numbers.
Dortmund made it to Matchday 13 still unbeaten and top of the table, with Alcacer’s stunning early-season form ensuring his loan move from Barcelona was swiftly made permanent.
The Spain international’s incredible efficiency means he is also leading the way in Europe this year. Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe comes closest to rivalling the Dortmund number nine’s goals-per-minute ratio – notching every 69 minutes for his tally of 12 in 11 Ligue 1 matches. The other leading marksmen in Europe’s top leagues – such as former Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus – are all averaging a goal every 100 minutes or more.
Watch: Catch up on all of Alcacer's Bundesliga goals for Dortmund so far
Alcacer’s accuracy so far has been remarkable. He’s had 10 shots on target in the Bundesliga, and every one of them has resulted in a goal for his team. That ruthless rate is unrivalled. Gert ‘Charly’ Dörfel was the previous record holder for the fastest player to double figures in the German top flight, but he needed 668 minutes to reach the mark for Hamburg in the 1960s.
What makes Alcacer’s streak all the more striking is that he has only started two league games. In eight matches to date, he had more minutes as a substitute (153) than as a starter (128) – and nine of his strikes have come from the bench. Half of his goals have come in the 80th minute or later, with three – including the clincher against Freiburg on Matchday 12 – being netted in injury-time.
Watch: Hear what Dortmund's Thomas Delaney made of Alcacer's goal against Freiburg
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No one in Bundesliga history had ever scored in their first six appearances from the bench before, and Lucien Favre’s not-so-secret weapon looks certain to break at least one more league record before 2018/19 is done. The league’s previous undisputed owners of the supersub tag – Freiburg’s Nils Petersen (2016/17) and Stuttgart’s Ionel Ganea (2002/03) – both needed a full season to get a league-high nine goals as substitutes.