Fourteen goals in eight matches
Raphinha netted a second straight hat-trick on Saturday night in Seville. Barcelona came away with a 3-1 win. The Brazilian is now up to 14 goals in the first eight matches of the season.
No club legend had ever managed better after the opening stretch in 126 years of history. That number does not just point to a hot streak. It points to a player who has changed completely.
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The winger who became a centre-forward
The detail matters. Raphinha is not playing in his usual position. A winger for his entire career, he has been used up front since the start of the season, making runs in behind and attacking crosses with his head, both of which used to be well outside his game.
His third goal in Seville summed up the transformation. A run off the back of the defence, then a clipped finish over the keeper. Proper striker stuff.
Barca spent the summer chasing Julián Alvarez for that exact role. In the end, they found the answer in their own dressing room.
His team-mate Rodri could hardly believe it. “When I think about the player I knew back when he was at Leeds… he was completely different,” he said after the match, before stressing his fitness and output, three goals from three or four shots.
An awkward omission from the Ballon d’Or
The Seville coach did not hide his irritation in his press conference. He was surprised to see Raphinha left out of the 30-man Ballon d’Or list. “The fact that he is not nominated… that’s why I do not really believe in these awards,” he said, before praising Barca’s overall level.
At 29, the former Rennes man is reinventing himself at the point when most wingers start to fade. Lamine Yamal, who set up two on Saturday, is benefiting from the switch as much as he is driving it. The pair have had a hand in almost every Liga game over the past month.
The season is still long, and this pace will not hold forever. But 14 goals in eight league games, at a club that has seen Cruyff, Romario, Ronaldo and Messi, is not just a quirk of the numbers.
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