Raphinha matches Messi’s remarkable Barcelona start after nine years

Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona beat Racing Santander 7-2 on Wednesday, taking his La Liga tally to nine goals after six matches and matching a feat last achieved by Lionel Messi in the 2017-18 season.

The Brazil international was Barcelona’s leading contributor in a convincing victory in the sixth round of the league campaign. His three goals against Racing Santander took him to the top of the La Liga scoring charts, after Kylian Mbappe had temporarily moved into first place with seven goals for Real Madrid on Tuesday.

According to French network Stats Foot, Raphinha is the first player since Messi in 2017-18 to score nine times in the opening six matches of a La Liga season.

“Raphinha becomes the first player to score nine goals after six matchdays in La Liga since Lionel Messi in 2017-18 (nine),” Stats Foot reported.

Raphinha’s nine league goals have come against five different opponents. He scored three against Racing Santander, two against Elche, two against Rayo Vallecano, one against Athletic Club and one against Valencia. He did not score in the match against Levante.

Messi also reached nine goals during the opening six league games of the 2017-18 campaign. His goals came against Eibar, against whom he scored four, Espanyol, where he scored three, and Alaves, where he scored twice.

The Argentina forward eventually finished that season with 34 goals, ending the campaign as La Liga’s leading scorer.

Raphinha’s form extends beyond Barcelona’s domestic campaign. He has scored 11 goals in all competitions since the start of the season, including two in the Champions League.

Stats Foot said that total makes him the highest-scoring player for any club from Europe’s top five leagues in official competitions so far this season.