Barcelona score seven as Raphinha hat-trick overwhelms Racing Santander

Raphinha scored three times as La Liga leaders Barcelona produced a 7-2 victory over Racing Santander at Camp Nou on Wednesday to restore their three-point advantage at the top of the table.

Barcelona had briefly been joined on the same points by Real Madrid, who beat Elche 3-2 on Tuesday, but the Catalan side responded with an emphatic win against 10th-placed Racing.

Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal were also on target for Barcelona, who have now scored 33 goals in seven games across all competitions.

“For me the most important thing is that we are always focused, with every pass. It’s like conversation, a good conversation,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick told DAZN.

Barcelona took the lead when Cancelo struck a powerful long-range effort before Raphinha doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.

Maguette Gueye gave Racing hope by powering through the defence and finishing past Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia. That reprieve was short-lived, however, as another Cancelo shot took a deflection off Asier Villalibre and flew in.

Raphinha, operating as a centre-forward, added his second after being released by Dani Olmo. Yamal then missed the chance to make it 5-1 when Julen Agirrezabala saved his penalty after Karim Adeyemi had been brought down.

Garcia was replaced by Barcelona’s reserve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny at half-time after appearing to injure himself while slipping on the wet surface as he went to retrieve the ball.

Flick said Garcia had “some problems” with his knee but hoped the Spain international would be fit to play at the weekend.

Yamal hit the post and later had a goal disallowed for offside as heavy rain continued to fall. Racing scored again when Yassir Zabiri capitalised on a mistake by Szczesny, who lost possession while attempting to dribble in front of his own goal.

Barcelona immediately restored their three-goal lead after Adeyemi won another penalty. Raphinha converted to complete his hat-trick and take his league tally to nine goals, strengthening his position as the division’s top scorer.

He was substituted soon afterwards, with fellow Brazilian Gabriel Jesus scoring the sixth after Yamal had played him through. Yamal then completed the rout when Adeyemi supplied the assist.

“I always think there is something I need to improve,” Raphinha told DAZN. “So I’ll never tell you I’m at my best level, because… I always try to improve as much as I can, and give more to the team than I am given.”

Atletico Madrid moved up to third with a 4-0 home win over Osasuna, their second consecutive victory ahead of Sunday’s derby against Real Madrid.

Jonathan David, Lee Kang-in, Robin Le Normand and Alex Baena scored for Diego Simeone’s side, who were without injured striker Julian Alvarez.

David opened the scoring midway through the first half after his initial effort was saved. He then set up Lee early in the second half before Le Normand made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute after a corner was cleared to him. Johnny Cardoso created the fourth for Baena.

“We controlled it in the first half even though we weren’t clinical,” said Simeone. “We were clinical in the second half and controlled the game.”

Sevilla climbed to fourth, level with Atletico on 13 points, after beating Deportivo La Coruna 1-0.

Levante’s game against Athletic Bilbao in Valencia was postponed shortly before kick-off because of heavy rain and a waterlogged pitch.