Raphinha matches Lionel Messi record as Barcelona star reaches 15 La Liga goals

Raphinha scored twice in the first half as Barcelona took a 4-0 lead over Deportivo Alaves at Spotify Camp Nou on Saturday, moving him level with Lionel Messi’s historic La Liga scoring record.

The Brazil international’s double took his tally to 15 goals after Barcelona’s opening 11 league matches of the season. That matches Messi’s total from the first 11 games of the 2012-13 campaign.

Raphinha is now joint-second among the highest scorers after 11 La Liga matches in the past 50 years. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more, having found the net 18 times in the opening 11 games of the 2014-15 season.

The forward’s latest goals came at an important point for Barcelona, who began the match looking to recover from successive defeats by Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. They lost 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain before being beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid.

Raphinha has made a notable impact while operating as a central striker this season, despite previously being more accustomed to playing on the wing. His move into the role followed Barcelona’s failure to complete the signing of Atletico de Madrid forward Julian Alvarez during the previous summer transfer window.

Barcelona went into the meeting with Deportivo Alaves aiming to reclaim top spot in La Liga. Atletico de Madrid had moved above them by one point after beating hosts Levante 2-0 earlier on Saturday.

The result at half-time placed Barcelona in a strong position to respond to their recent setbacks, with Raphinha again providing the decisive contribution in front of goal.