Barcelona hit Racing Santander for seven to move three points clear at the top

Barcelona extended their perfect start to the La Liga season with a 7-2 victory over Racing Santander at Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday, moving three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table.

The match had been placed in doubt by warnings from Catalonia’s meteorological service about storms and unsettled conditions. It went ahead as scheduled, however, with heavy rain accompanying a dominant display from the home side.

Joao Cancelo scored twice, while Raphinha claimed a hat-trick as Barcelona overwhelmed their visitors. Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal also found the net, although the score could have been even more emphatic had Barcelona converted more of their chances.

The result was Barcelona’s first seven-goal victory of the season. They had previously scored five goals in four matches – three in La Liga and one in the Champions League.

Racing Santander were largely unable to threaten Barcelona, but they did score twice. Maguette Gueye reduced the deficit in the first half, before substitute Yasser Al-Zabiri took advantage of an error by Wojciech Szczesny after the interval.

Barcelona made a forceful start and were ahead after only eight minutes. Joao Cancelo collected the ball outside the penalty area and struck a powerful shot which caught the goalkeeper by surprise.

Karim Adeyemi came close to adding a second in the 19th minute when he ran through on goal after a fine pass from Dani Olmo, but his effort went just wide.

Three minutes later, Raphinha won a penalty after a challenge from fellow Brazilian Pedro Felipe. He took responsibility himself and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to double Barcelona’s lead.

Racing Santander pulled one back in the 31st minute with their first meaningful incursion into Barcelona’s penalty area. Maguette Gueye capitalised on a lapse in the home defence.

Barcelona restored their two-goal advantage when another long-range effort from Joao Cancelo took a deflection off a defender and changed direction on its way into the net.

Raphinha then added his second three minutes before half-time, meeting a pass from Dani Olmo on the edge of the area and finding the far corner.

Barcelona were awarded a second penalty in first-half stoppage time after a foul on Adeyemi, but Lamine Yamal failed to convert as the goalkeeper saved his effort.

Wojciech Szczesny replaced Juan Garcia at half-time and made a costly mistake in the 65th minute by taking too long in possession. Yasser Al-Zabiri pounced to score Racing Santander’s second.

Raphinha completed his hat-trick from Barcelona’s third penalty, awarded after Adeyemi was brought down. Yamal had a goal ruled out for offside before Gabriel Jesus made it 6-2 following a precise pass from the young forward.

Yamal finally got on the scoresheet before the final whistle, finishing from an Adeyemi cross.

Barcelona have won all six league matches and lead the table with 18 points. Real Madrid are three points behind and visit city rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Racing Santander remain 10th on seven points.

Hamza Abdulkareem, who signed a new contract on Tuesday, remained an unused substitute throughout the 90 minutes as Hansi Flick opted not to bring on the young Egyptian striker.