Unstoppable Raphinha, Barcelona Soaring

Rafinha is now unstoppable. The Brazilian winger’s devastating hat-trick and attacking prowess sent Racing Santander flying. Barcelona crushed their opponents 7-2 in a thrilling 9-goal night at Camp Nou. The stunning victory not only cemented their place at the top of the points table, but also set a new record for Hansi Flick as a coach in the club’s 125-year history.

Barca have won seven consecutive matches in all competitions this season – the best start to a first seven matches under a coach in the club’s history. They are now three points ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid in La Liga with 18 points from six matches. And in those six league matches, Flick’s men have scored an incredible 28 goals!

The hosts were on the offensive from the start, attacking Racing’s weak defense at home. Barca opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a spectacular long-range shot from Joao Cancelo. Rafinha doubled the lead from a spot-kick in the 25th minute. Racing took advantage of Cancelo’s mistake in the middle to equalize, but the Catalans took full control of the match with two more goals before the break—one of which was an own goal and the other was Rafinha’s perfect finish from a pass from Dani Olmo.

Barca were awarded a penalty again in the 65th minute of the second half. Rafinha, who was in form, completed his hat-trick with a cool head. Gabriel Jesus’ long-range shot in the closing stages of the match and Lamine Yamal’s great finish in the final moments ensured a big win.

However, despite this sky-high success, Barca’s defense was somewhat shaky. They had to digest the second goal in the second half due to a mistake by substitute goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. However, these defensive flaws are now being covered up in the face of such a devastating performance from the attack.