A hat-trick of Refinha boosted Hansi Flick’s rampant Barcelona to a resounding 7-2 victory over Racing de Santander, with a three-point lead at the top The League
Barca made light work of horrible weather to claim a sixth straight La Liga victory, restoring a cushion over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top.
The home side took the lead after eight minutes with Joao Cancelo’s thunderous long-range strike under the crossbar.
Raphinha doubled the lead from the spot in the 25th minute after Pedro Felipe’s foul in the area. Although Maguette Gueye offered Racing a brief lifeline with some lull on Joan Garcia, Flick’s side quickly shut the door.
Cancelo thought he had added his second from distance soon after, before it was ruled an own goal, with Dani Olmo then picking out Raphinha to nail a clinical fourth before the break.
Santander goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala saved Lamine Yamal’s penalty in first-half stoppage time, but Racing were overwhelmed by Barça’s relentless pressure.
Barça brought on Wojciech Szczesny at half-time for the injured Garcia, and the Polish goalkeeper suffered an immediate fall, stripped inside his own area by Yassir Zabiri to make it 4-2.
The resistance was, however, fleeting. Karim Adeyemi won Barca’s third penalty of the night in the 67th minute, allowing Raphinha to fire his hat-trick into the bottom corner before the home side added a sixth to seal defeat through Gabriel Jesus.
And there was still time for Lamal to recover his penalty miss when he took the seventh.
With 28 goals scored in their first six games, Flick’s formidable side head into Saturday’s trip to Sevilla with full authority.