Raphinha breaks Messi's record and targets Cristiano's
Raphinha, the 29‑year‑old Brazilian of Barça, surpassed the best start of Lionel Messi by scoring a hat‑trick against Sevilla at the Sánchez Pizjuán, reaching 12 goals in the first seven rounds of LaLiga. With that tally, he is already shaping up as a candidate to also break the record of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Renewal and new offensive role
The player arrived at Barça in the summer of 2022 as a right winger, but reinvented himself as a left winger when Lamine Yamal broke onto his flank. After the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, and the failed signing of Julián Alvarez, the number 11 decided to become the ‘9’ of Xavi Flick, although not just any ‘9’. In addition, he signed a two‑year extension that pushes his contract until June 2030.
With the perfect hat‑trick against Sevilla, Raphinha rose as Pichichi with 12 goals in the first seven rounds, surpassing the start of Messi (11 goals in 2017‑18). He matched the best start of Mariano Martín, Pruden, Campanal and Quini, and only fell behind Cristiano Ronaldo (13 goals in 2014‑15) and Echevarría (14 with Oviedo).
Goal against Getafe and international commitments
On 10 October, Raphinha will have the chance to score four goals against Getafe at the Spotify Camp Nou, a figure needed to get close to the record of 16 goals that Cristiano achieved in the first eight rounds of 2014‑15. After the international break, he will feature for Brazil in matches scheduled in Australia and India. After receiving the ball from delegate Carles Naval, the striker displayed the determination that has brought him to this point.
So far this season, also counting the Champions clash against Feyenoord, he has taken 22 shots: only one off target, two hit the post and, of the 19 inside the three posts, 14 became goals. These figures place him among the killer ‘9’s such as Romario, Ronaldo, Messi, Cristiano, Suárez, Lewandowski, Haaland or Kane.
Assessment and future
Jordi Batalla Fermín said in Sevilla: “Barça is one of the teams that play football best”. According to Roger Torelló, head of the Barça department, the performance of Raphinha is the major solution of Flick for the attack. The images of Manel Montilla capture the Spiderman gesture that the Brazilian dedicates to his son, a symbol of the passion that drives him to keep breaking records.