Considering the strongest defensive team in European football, Serie A has historically belonged to such teams. Premier League strong teams Manchester City and Liverpool have also had the best defense in recent years, and Bayern Munich’s dominance in the Bundesliga increases their value.

However, La Liga has emerged as the strongest defense in Europe so far in the 2022-23 season. Of course, there was one game less than other leagues, but the defense record of the top teams is noteworthy.

Paris Saint-Germain, France’s eternal powerhouse, on the other hand, is enjoying the heyday of true defense under new coach Christophe Galtier, which once again dominates Ligue 1.

Let’s read SBOTOP’s look at Europe’s top three defense teams this 2022-23 season and find out what was behind their success.

Barcelona

Barcelona have poured in huge sums this summer, and of course a lot of attention has been focused on reinforcing their strikers. Scoring machine Robert Lewandowski certainly made headlines, and Hafinha was recruited for a top transfer fee of 58 million euros.

However, it should not be overlooked that Barcelona moved to rebuild the defense. They were willing to pay 50 million euros to sign Seville centre-back Jules Cunde, while Andrea Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Hector Beyerin all joined the Premier League on free transfers.

Xavi also made a bold decision to remove team legends Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba from the starting lineup. On the other hand, he placed Kunde on the right and the Ronald Arau in the center​

In terms of domestic league, Barcelona has the best defensive record in Europe, so this transfer seems to have been quite effective. Barca allowed only one goal in their first eight La Liga matches and did not lose a point in six consecutive games.

Barca, of course, may be a bit lucky at the moment. They are above the expected score of 6.0, the second record after Real Madrid, which is quite good and somewhat covers how good their defense is.

It is also noteworthy that their tremendous defensive solidity has not yet led to the Champions League, with Barca losing to strong rivals Bayern Munich and Inter Milan​

However, their overwhelming defensive skills in the league are still a big improvement for manager Xavi, who once again appear to be the real candidates to continue the La Liga championship race.

Villarreal

Villarreal, who are not far behind Warsaw, have allowed just three goals in eight matches so far. Unai Emery has built up meditation as the best defensive coach in the game and he is once again making a remarkable achievement in Villarreal, which is not much different from last year.

Faustores is currently one of Europe’s most promising centre-backs, but 37-year-old Raul Albiol, Kiko Femenia and Alfonso Pedraza, other defenders available to Emery, are unlikely to form more than half of a strong defense.

Central midfielders Etienne Capoue, Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin are all over 30 years old and wonder how they managed to lose so little.

However, Villarreal, like Barca, is showing a little bit of skill beyond the 7.1 xGA. But we still can’t ignore Emery’s magic of freely using players to build above-average defense​

The 2022 soccer dividend is expected to fall one day with Villarreal slowing down, but Emery’s players will still be a difficult team to break throughout.

Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain has recovered its best ability to dominate Ligue 1. It is not surprising that PSG have already scored 28 goals with ease, with the huge trio of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi leading the attack.

What’s more impressive, however, is that the new coach Christophe Galtier combined his tremendous offensive talent with well-organized defense to prevent his opponent from making too many football highlights in 2022. Saint-Germain allowed just five goals in their first 10 games, a huge record.

Galtier actually used three-back tactics throughout the season, employing captain Marquignos, veteran Sergio Ramos and Presnel Kimpembe or Danilo Pereira, which helped consolidate the defense. He also used Gigi Donnarumma as the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper over Keylor Navas, which gave the position more stability.

On the other hand, the recruitment of defensive midfielder Viti의a added solidity to last season’s lack of midfield.

It’s hard to think that PSG’s good defensive skills will soon deteriorate, as they are displaying pure talent under a much more consistent system.