Raphinha Hat Trick Helps Barcelona Set New Winning Record With 7-2 Victory

Raphinha scored a hat trick as Barcelona defeated Racing Santander 7-2 on Wednesday, extending its winning run to seven matches and setting the best start to a season in the club’s history.

The Catalan side had never previously won its first seven games of a season. Barcelona has now recorded six consecutive victories in La Liga and another in the Champions League.

Raphinha took his league tally to nine goals in six appearances and has scored in all but one match this season. The Brazil international said the team’s focus remained on winning and continuing to create scoring opportunities.

Gabriel Jesus, Lamine Yamal and João Cancelo also scored for Barcelona, while Racing’s Asier Villalibre put through his own net. Maguette Gueye and Yassir Zabiri scored for the visitors.

Barcelona has scored at least five goals in five of its seven matches this season. Its only game in which it scored fewer than four goals was a 2-0 league victory over Athletic Bilbao.

The club had previously opened a season with six straight wins in 1929-30, 1960-61 and 2018-19, according to Barcelona.

Yamal endured a difficult evening before eventually finding the net late in the match. His earlier goal was ruled out for offside, he missed a penalty and also hit the post.

Barcelona has also recorded convincing league victories over Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia, while Feyenoord was defeated in the Champions League. Hansi Flick’s team has scored 33 goals and conceded seven in seven matches across all competitions.

The result leaves Barcelona three points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. Real Madrid defeated Elche on Tuesday.

Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García was replaced by Wojciech Szczesny at halftime after appearing to suffer an injury. Szczesny was involved in Racing’s second goal after losing possession while attempting to control the ball inside his penalty area.

Elsewhere in La Liga, Atletico Madrid moved into third place after a 4-0 home victory over Osasuna. Jonathan David, Lee Kang-In, Robin Le Normand and Álex Baena scored for Diego Simeone’s side, which secured its second consecutive win.

Sevilla moved into fourth after beating Deportivo La Coruña 1-0 through Miguel Sierra’s second-half goal. The match between Levante and Athletic Bilbao was postponed because of heavy rain in Valencia.

In the English League Cup, Manchester United suffered a 3-2 defeat by Brighton after surrendering a two-goal lead at Old Trafford. Shea Lacey and Mason Mount put United 2-0 ahead inside 10 minutes, but Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper completed Brighton’s comeback.

The defeat ended United’s League Cup campaign in the third round for the second successive season.

In the Europa League, Benfica defeated AC Milan 2-0 in Italy, with Dodi Lukébakio and Jakub Kaminski scoring. Sunderland marked its first European match in more than 70 years with a 1-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar, while Lyon beat Anderlecht 2-1 and Bayer Leverkusen defeated Celje 2-0.