Raphinha’s remarkable start sees him outscore Real Madrid’s entire attacking quartet

Raphinha has scored 12 goals in his first seven La Liga matches this season, putting the Barcelona forward ahead of Real Madrid’s entire attacking quartet and surpassing Lionel Messi’s record for the same stage of a campaign.

The Brazil international, in his fifth season with Barcelona, has scored in six of his seven league appearances. His total is one more than the combined tally of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Diomande for Real Madrid.

According to Spanish newspaper AS, Mbappe has scored seven goals, Bellingham three and Vinicius Junior one, while Diomande has yet to make a contribution. Together, the four players have 11 goals.

Raphinha’s form also reflects the difference between the two sides’ attacking output. Barcelona have scored 31 goals in La Liga, while Real Madrid have managed 18 – a gap of 13 in Barcelona’s favour.

The 12-goal haul has also taken Raphinha beyond Messi’s mark of 11 goals in his first seven matches of the 2017-18 season. That had previously stood as the highest total recorded at that point of a La Liga campaign.

Raphinha’s tally is greater than that of 16 clubs in the division. Only three teams have scored more than him individually: Real Madrid with 18, Atletico Madrid with 16 and Villarreal with 13. Every other La Liga side has scored fewer goals than the Barcelona forward.

His scoring record has been matched by a consistent run of performances. The only league fixture in which he failed to score was against Levante. He scored twice against Elche and Rayo Vallecano, while he completed hat-tricks against Racing Club, Sevilla, Athletic Club and Valencia.

Champions League form continues

Raphinha’s goalscoring has not been limited to domestic competition. He opened his Champions League campaign with two goals against Feyenoord, taking his overall total for the season to 14 goals in eight competitive appearances.

That gives him an average of 1.75 goals per match.

His start to the season has made him more than Barcelona’s leading scorer. On the figures so far, Raphinha has outperformed not only Real Madrid’s forward line but also most of the clubs competing in La Liga.