Barça-Racing: 7-2, Raphinha’s hat-trick and record for Flick

Hansi Flick becomes the first coach in the club’s history to win the first seven official matches of a season. This latest success also gives the Catalans a three-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the league.

João Cancelo opened the scoring with a long-range shot in the 8th minute. Raphinha converted a penalty in the 25th minute, before Maguette Gueye pulled one back five minutes later. Cancelo’s next attempt was deflected into his own net by Asier Villalibre, and Raphinha scored his second goal in the 42nd minute.

Barcelona could have gone into halftime with an even larger lead, but Julen Agirrezabala saved a penalty from Lamine Yamal. Racing narrowed the gap to 4-2 in the 65th minute thanks to Yassir Zabiri, following an error by Wojciech Szczesny, before Raphinha converted a second penalty to complete his hat-trick.

Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal added two more goals in the final eleven minutes. Raphinha now has nine goals in the first six Liga matches, marking the best start for a player in the league since Lionel Messi scored nine times for Barcelona in the 2017-2018 season.

Barcelona has scored 28 goals in six Liga matches, the second-highest total in the history of the league at this stage, behind Sevilla’s 32 goals in 1940-1941. With 18 points and a goal difference of +22, the Catalan club maintains a three-point lead over Real Madrid.