Raphinha’s remarkable start puts him ahead of Mbappe and Haaland

Raphinha has made Barcelona history by scoring in each of the club’s first five official matches this season, producing eight goals and a scoring rate that currently surpasses both Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.

The Brazil forward has played four La Liga matches so far, while Barcelona’s fifth game was in the Champions League. He scored twice against Elche, once against Athletic Bilbao, twice against Rayo Vallecano and once at Mestalla against Valencia, before continuing his run in Europe with two goals in the 5-1 victory over Feyenoord.

According to Sport, Raphinha has started the campaign at a level well beyond anything he achieved in previous seasons. His early numbers represent the best scoring return of his career and place him among the leading forwards in La Liga, as well as some of the most prolific attackers in Europe and across the world.

He has scored eight goals in approximately 390 minutes of action, with six goals in La Liga and two on his Champions League debut against Feyenoord. That equates to a goal roughly every 49 minutes.

No Barcelona player had previously scored in each of their first five matches of a season when those fixtures were spread across different competitions. Raphinha had already matched another club record before the European fixture, becoming only the sixth player in Barcelona history to score in the opening four rounds of La Liga.

He follows in the footsteps of Kubala, Cesar Rodriguez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi.

Raphinha’s advantage is even clearer in the league. He has six goals and one assist in 319 minutes, making him La Liga’s leading scorer. He has also scored more than one-third of Barcelona’s 17 goals in their first four league matches.

No player in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more than Raphinha’s six league goals so far. He leads Roma’s Donyell Malen and Rayo Vallecano’s Sergio Camello, who have scored five each.

Mbappe, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal have four La Liga goals apiece. When Champions League goals are included, Raphinha has eight official goals, compared with five for Mbappe, who scored his first European goal of the season in Real Madrid’s match against Inter Milan.

Haaland has also made a strong start with Manchester City and has five goals, including two against Porto in the Champions League, but his scoring rate remains below Raphinha’s.

Outside Europe, Al Ahli Saudi forward Ivan Toney has scored eight goals in the first six rounds of the Saudi Pro League. That matches Raphinha’s total, although Toney has needed an extra match and 515 minutes on the pitch.

Raphinha has scored only one penalty, and his six league goals have come at a rate of one every 53 minutes. Including Europe, that improves to one every 49 minutes. The season remains at an early stage, but after five matches, Raphinha’s figures are clear: he is outscoring Mbappe and Haaland for now.