Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona beat Racing Santander 7-2 at Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday, a seventh straight win and the best start to a season in the club's history. The La Liga leaders were 4-1 up by half-time.

The result puts Barcelona three points clear of Real Madrid again, after Madrid's win at Elche on Tuesday had drawn them level. It also delivers the record our Racing preview pointed to. The club said it had won its first six games of a season three times before, in 1929/30, 1960/61 and 2018/19. Seven from seven is new.

Barcelona were 4-1 up before half-time

João Cancelo opened the scoring after 8 minutes, and Raphinha doubled the lead from the penalty spot in the 25th. Maguette Gueye pulled one back for Racing in the 30th minute.

The reply was quick. A second long-range effort from Cancelo restored the two-goal lead in the 36th minute. beIN Sports credited the goal to Cancelo, while the Associated Press recorded it as an own goal by Asier Villalibre. Raphinha made it 4-1 in the 42nd.

Joan Garcia, who was injured according to Goal, was replaced in goal by Wojciech Szczęsny at half-time. According to Goal, a lapse in possession by Szczęsny gave Yassir Zabiri Racing's second goal in the second half.

Lamine Yamal had to wait until the 89th minute for his goal

Two minutes after Zabiri scored, Raphinha completed his hat-trick with a second penalty. Gabriel Jesus added the sixth in the 79th minute.

Lamine Yamal had a goal disallowed for offside, hit the post and saw a penalty saved by Racing goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala. He finally got his goal in the 89th minute to make it 7-2.

Highlights: Barcelona 7-2 Racing Santander

Raphinha leads La Liga with nine goals in six games

The hat-trick takes Raphinha to a league-leading nine goals in six matches, and he has scored in all but one game this season.

The team numbers are just as lopsided. Hansi Flick's side have outscored their opponents 33-7 across seven games in all competitions, and have scored at least five goals in five of them. Six of those wins came in La Liga and one came against Feyenoord in the Champions League. The only game in which they scored fewer than four was a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

A trip to Sevilla comes next

Barcelona travel to Sevilla for Matchday 7 on Saturday 19 September, with kick-off at 21:00 CEST at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. They go there with a three-point lead and a perfect record to protect.