La Liga: Raphinha's hat-trick helps Barcelona thrash Racing Santander 7-2
What's the story
Barcelona continued their dominant start to the 2026/27 La Liga season with a resounding 7-2 victory over Racing Santander. Brazilian international Raphinha made headlines with a stunning hat-trick. Lamine Yamal was also involved in three goals. The win helped Barcelona maintain their perfect record in the ongoing season. They have won all six of their opening matches.
Goal spree
Barcelona take commanding lead in first half
Barcelona's attacking prowess was on full display against Racing Santander, with Joao Cancelo opening the scoring just eight minutes into the match.
Raphinha then doubled their lead with a penalty midway through the first half.
Although Racing pulled one back through Maguette Gueye, Barcelona quickly restored their two-goal advantage as Cancelo's long-range strike deflected off Asier Villalibre for an own goal.
Hat-trick hero
Raphinha nets hat-trick for the Catalans
Raphinha then extended Barcelona's lead with his second goal. This took his tally to 11 goals in all competitions this season.
After the break, Racing responded again through Yassir Zabiri. However, there was no way back as Raphinha completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Gabriel Jesus added another late on, before Lamine Yamal put the finishing touch.
Perfect run
Historic start for Barcelona in La Liga
Barcelona's unbeaten start to the La Liga season is historic. It marked the first time they have won their opening seven games across competitions.
The victory over Racing Santander also restored their three-point lead over rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Manager Hansi Flick praised his team's intensity and collective effort after the match, emphasizing that their strong start will only matter if they can sustain it throughout the season.
Goals
Raphinha leads Barcelona's attack
Despite the absence of a traditional striker, Barcelona's attack has been phenomenal, with Raphinha leading the charge.
The Brazilian has scored in four of their first five league games, including two braces.
Raphinha is currently the 2026/27 La Liga top scorer with nine goals in six games. He also owns 3 assists.
Kylian Mbappe and Yamal follow closely with seven goals each. Both players also have two assists under their belt.
Information
Raphinha races to 86 goals for Barca; Yamal shines
From 184 matches in all competitions for Barcelona, Raphinha has scored a staggering 86 goals, including 11 this season from 7 matches. Meanwhile, Yamal has bagged 57 goals in 158 matches for Barca, including 8 this season from 7 appearances.
Do you know?
Raphinha surpasses Messi's record
As mentioned, Raphinha has contributed to 12 goals in La Liga 2026/27 (nine goals and three assists). This is the highest tally for a player after the first five matches of FC Barcelona in a season of the competition since Lionel Messi in 2017/18 (10, nine goals and one assist).
Information
Yamal joins Messi
Yamal is now the second player to score three braces in his team's first five matches of a La Liga season in the entire 21st century. The previous one to do so in this century was Messi in the 2012/13 season (three braces), also with FC Barcelona.