Raphinha delivered another hat-trick to fire Barcelona past Sevilla on the road, and in doing so, joined a club that includes only two other names in LaLiga history: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Brazilian’s treble came in a 3-1 win at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, where he canceled out an early Youssouf Fofana goal for the hosts before completing the turnaround in the second half.
The performance pushed Raphinha‘s tally to 11 goals through Barcelona’s first seven LaLiga matches of the season, the best start to a league campaign by a Barcelona player in more than eight decades.
It also matches the total Messi put up with Barcelona in 2017-18, leaving only Ronaldo‘s record of 13 goals in seven games, set with Real Madrid in 2014-15, still out of reach.
Closing that two-goal gap would hand Raphinha an outright record, and with Barcelona yet to drop a single point through seven league matches, he’ll have no shortage of chances to keep pace with that kind of scoring rate as the season continues.
see also
Yamal and Raphinha surpass Barcelona scoring mark last set by Messi and Fabregas 15 years ago
The unstoppable form behind Raphinha’s numbers
Raphinha’s individual explosion is very much a reflection of the team around him. In LaLiga specifically, the Brazilian’s hat-trick pushed him to 12 goals in seven appearances, putting him five clear of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, who are tied for second in the race for the Pichichi Trophy with seven goals apiece.
That run of matches without a loss also means Raphinha won’t have to wait long for another shot at Ronaldo’s record. Barcelona host Getafe on October 10 before a visit to Real Betis, and El Clásico against Real Madrid at Camp Nou on October 25, giving him a string of high-profile chances to find the two goals that would push him past the Portuguese’s mark.
