Raphinha revives Messi and Ronaldo-era goal race with explosive La Liga start

Raphinha has brought back memories of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo with 12 goals in his first seven La Liga matches, putting him among the competition’s most prolific starts of the modern era.

The Brazil international is scoring at an average of 1.71 goals per game, a rate that places him close to the extraordinary standards set by Messi and Ronaldo before their departures from La Liga.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 13 goals in his first seven matches for Real Madrid in the 2014-2015 season, while Messi scored 11 in the same number of games for Barcelona in 2017-2018.

Raphinha’s remarkable opening has also come after he was left out of the 30-player shortlist for the Ballon d’Or, despite finishing fifth in the previous edition. Rather than respond with public criticism, he has made his case on the pitch.

If he maintained his current scoring rate over a full 38-match campaign, Raphinha would theoretically finish with 65 goals. That is not a prediction for the end of the season, but the calculation illustrates just how exceptional his start has been.

Chasing records set by Messi and Ronaldo

The highest goalscoring total in a single La Liga season remains Messi’s 50 goals for Barcelona in 2011-2012. Ronaldo is second on the list after scoring 48 for Real Madrid in 2014-2015.

Those figures belong to an era that ended when the two players left La Liga. Since then, a return of 40 goals has become unusual, while the 50-goal mark has appeared increasingly distant.

Raphinha does not need to sustain a tally of 12 goals every seven matches to surpass Messi’s record. To reach 51 goals, he would need 39 more in the remaining 31 matches, requiring an average of 1.26 goals per game.

The gap between those historic totals and more recent scoring achievements is clear. Luis Suarez scored 40 goals for Barcelona in La Liga in 2015-2016, the best tally of his competition career.

Kylian Mbappe scored 31 goals for Real Madrid in 2024-2025 before winning the La Liga scoring title again the following season with 25. Robert Lewandowski’s best campaign in the competition came in 2022-2023, when he scored 23 goals.

Raphinha’s current form therefore offers more than a strong start. It raises the possibility of an exceptional season, one that could take him beyond a return to the 30-player Ballon d’Or shortlist for 2027 and into contention to win the award itself.

It is impossible to know whether his omission provided extra motivation, but his performances have given the story the shape of a sporting response.

Messi and Ronaldo left La Liga with their extraordinary scoring rates, yet after only seven matches Raphinha has revived the question of whether that era could be returning. For now, his answer is being delivered through his goals rather than his words.