Raphinha hat-trick fires Barcelona to 7-2 rout of Racing

Raphinha struck a hat-trick as Barcelona extended their perfect start to the LaLiga season with a commanding 7-2 victory over Racing Santander at Camp Nou on Wednesday (September 16).

João Cancelo opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a powerful strike that clipped the crossbar before finding the net. Raphinha doubled Barcelona’s lead from the penalty spot in the 25th minute after being fouled inside the box.

Racing pulled one back through Maguette Gueye five minutes later, but Barcelona quickly restored their two-goal cushion when Cancelo’s effort deflected into the net off Asier Villalibre. Raphinha then added his second in the 42nd minute to put the hosts 4-1 ahead at the break.

Racing reduced the deficit again through Yassir Zabiri in the 65th minute after a defensive error, but Raphinha completed his hat-trick from another penalty two minutes later.

Substitute Gabriel Jesus added Barcelona’s sixth in the 79th minute before Lamine Yamal completed the rout in the 89th.

Yamal had earlier missed a penalty, while his late goal extended his scoring run to four consecutive LaLiga matches. Raphinha’s three goals took his league tally to nine this season.

The win gave Hansi Flick a record-breaking seventh straight competitive victory to open the campaign and kept Barcelona three points clear at the top of LaLiga with 18 points.