FC Barcelona restored their 3-point lead at the top of the La Liga table with a scintillating attacking display against Racing Santander in their match at the Camp Nou. Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season and registered their seventh consecutive victory at the start of a season for the first time in their history — their best ever start to a season.
Joao Cancelo set the tone for the rout with a thunderous finish in the 8th minute before Raphinha joined the party seventeen minutes later from the penalty spot. Racing Santander pulled a goal back in the 30th minute, but Barca’s response was instant, and they found themselves three goals down shortly after. Raphinha completed his treble in the second half, and the hosts eventually put seven goals past the visitors.
It was another deadly attacking display from Hansi Flick’s side, who are on course to shatter Jose Mourinho’s 2011/2012 free-scoring side that set the record for the most goals scored in a single La Liga season with 121 goals. They have scored 28 goals across 6 rounds of fixtures, averaging 4.7 goals per game. If they keep this momentum, the record will become theirs.
Raphinha can’t stop scoring
João Cancelo opened the scoring for FC Barcelona with just eight minutes on the clock. Receiving a pass from Lamine Yamal about 25 yards from goal, Cancelo took aim and unleashed a venomous shot off the underside of the bar into the net. A belter from the blue! Barcelona were awarded a penalty when Raphinha was bundled down in Racing’s 18-yard box, and the Brazilian attacker stepped up. He made no mistake from the penalty spot, sending Julen Agirrezabala diving in the wrong direction and burying the penalty with precision to double the hosts’ lead in the 25th minute.
Racing Santander kept pressing and found the breakthrough on the stroke of the half-hour mark as Maguette Gueye danced his way through Barca’s unsuspecting defence before applying a calm finish beyond Joan Garcia. João Cancelo was quick to snuff out any hopes of a comeback for Racing with another magnificent long-range effort six minutes after Racing halved the deficit. Unmarked in acres of space about 30 yards from goal, Cancelo fired another long-range effort that deflected off Asier Villalibre and was credited as an own goal to the latter.
Barcelona unravelled Racing’s defence, and Olmo threaded an inch-perfect pass to Raphinha, who added a sublime finish to complete his brace in the 42nd minute. The Catalan club were awarded a spot kick when Karim Adeyemi was clattered down in Racing’s penalty area. Yamal took over penalty duties from Raphinha, but the goalkeeper dived in the right direction and denied his tame shot. Barca took a comfortable three-goal cushion into the break.
Barcelona were relentless and started the second half on a bright note with Yamal sending a shot against the woodwork. Wojciech Szczesny Garcia was caught in possession and substitute Yassir Zabiri stole the ball from the goalkeeper before bundling it into the net to reduce Racing’s deficit in the 65th minute, six minutes after his introduction. As Barcelona’s defence looked unconvincing, their attack was ruthless in their forays into Racing’s half.
Adeyemi was brought down again in Racing’s 18-yard box, and Barcelona were awarded their third penalty of the night. Raphinha stepped up, and a golden opportunity to complete his hat trick was on the cards. The Brazilian picked out his spot beautifully and arrowed the ball into the bottom corner as the goalie flew the other way. His treble allowed him to move clear of Mbappe as La Liga’s highest goal scorer this season. Raphinha is the first player to net 9+ goals in his first six La Liga games in a season since Lionel Messi did so in the 2017/2018 season. He might just be the best player in Europe this season.
Barcelona’s Seventh Heaven
Substitute Gabriel Jesus got in on the action, slamming Yamal’s pass into the net following a fast break, ten minutes after coming in for hat-trick hero Raphinha. Karim Adeyemi sprinted across the left flank and danced through Santander’s defence at full speed before unselfishly squaring the ball across to Yamal to tap it into the net a minute from time.
Barcelona started the season without a traditional Number 9, and Flick deployed Raphinha in the position. As Raphinha has shown repeatedly this season, he can make the false 9 position his own. He is enjoying his new role and has been virtually unplayable for the Catalan club. Racing won’t forget this match in a hurry, and we won’t forget either.
