Raphinha scored twice as Barcelona opened their 2026-27 Champions League marketing campaign with a 5-1 victory over Feyenoord. The outcome positioned Barcelona among the many standout performers of the competitors’s opening spherical.
The Brazilian ahead has now scored eight objectives and added one help throughout his first 5 matches of the season in all competitions. He reached that tally from 13 makes an attempt on objective, with 12 of these on course and one hanging the put up, in accordance with Mundo Deportivo.
A report run not seen since 1958
Mundo Deportivo stories that no Barcelona participant has scored eight objectives within the opening 5 aggressive matches of a season since Sandor Kocsis netted 9 within the first 5 video games of the 1958-59 marketing campaign. The statistic was supplied by Rac1 journalist Oriol Jovet.
Raphinha is now simply two objectives away from matching the mixed complete of ten he scored throughout his earlier two seasons on the membership. His private goal is to surpass the 34-goal single-season report he set in 2024-25, which was additionally Hansi Flick’s first season in cost.
Deco opens the door to a brand new deal
Raphinha signed a contract extension in Might 2025 that runs till June 2028. Regardless of that, his explosive begin to the season has prompted the membership to think about transferring once more.
Chatting with RAC1’s programme El Mon, hosted by Jordi Basté, Barcelona sporting director Deco stated the membership needs to maintain Raphinha long-term. Deco stated the membership displays its gamers’ contracts intently, goals to maintain wages balanced amongst key gamers of the identical degree, and genuinely needs Raphinha to remain at Barcelona.
Mundo Deportivo additionally notes that Saudi golf equipment made vital monetary provides to Raphinha, however he selected to prioritise his happiness and that of his household in Barcelona over these approaches.
Week’s finest participant nominees
UEFA named 4 candidates for the Champions League participant of the week after the opening spherical. The nominees are Raphinha, Ferran Torres, Marc Bartra and Ermedin Demirovic.
Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain beat Slovan Bratislava 6-1. Demirovic additionally scored a hat-trick as Stuttgart defeated Viking 3-1, and Bartra scored twice as Actual Betis got here from behind to beat Lille 3-2.
