In the Spanish league match held at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Barcelona achieved a dominant 7-2 victory over Racing Santander. The forward Raphinha was instrumental in this performance, scoring a hat-trick as the La Liga leaders dismantled Racing Santander on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid secured a 4-0 win against Osasuna, continuing to build momentum and confidence leading into the upcoming derby against Real Madrid.
Other matches saw Levante's fixture against Athletic Bilbao postponed due to heavy rainfall and a waterlogged pitch in Valencia. On Tuesday, Real Madrid had managed to draw level with Barcelona following a 3-2 victory at Elche, but the Catalan team regained its three-point lead by scoring numerous goals against Racing, who were ranked 10th in the league.
Beyond Raphinha's three goals, Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus, and Lamine Yamal also contributed to the impressive tally for the Catalan club, which has scored 33 goals in its last seven games across all competitions.
The coach of Barca, Hansi Flick, stated to DAZN that the most crucial element for the team was maintaining focus during every pass, comparing the play to a 'good conversation'. Despite the excellent start to the season, Raphinha expressed a desire for further self-improvement and improvement from his teammates, telling DAZN, 'It's always important to think you need to improve in some way.'
The match began with a thunderbolt from Cancelo putting Barca ahead, followed by Raphinha converting a penalty to make it two. Racing Santander managed to score once through Maguette Gueye, who finished neatly past Barca goalkeeper Joan Garcia. However, this reprieve was short-lived, as Cancelo provoked the third goal with another long-range strike that deflected off Asier Villalibre.
Raphinha, performing well as the center-forward, scored the fourth goal after being supplied by Dani Olmo. Teenage talent Yamal nearly added a fifth after Karim Adeyemi was fouled in the box, but Julen Agirrezabala saved the resulting penalty. During halftime, Barca reserve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny replaced Garcia after the Spain international appeared to injure himself while slipping on the damp pitch.
Flick mentioned that the goalkeeper had 'some problems' with his knee but expressed hope that he would be fit for the weekend match. In the second half, Yamal struck the post, and another attempt was disallowed for offside amid the heavy rain. Yassir Zabiri scored for Racing after a significant error by Szczesny, who failed to control the ball near his own goal. Barcelona responded almost immediately with another penalty, and Raphinha sealed his hat-trick from the spot, marking his ninth league goal and extending his position as the league's top scorer.
Gabriel Jesus replaced Raphinha and scored the sixth goal with a precise finish into the top corner after receiving a pass from Yamal, who subsequently netted the seventh goal after setting up Adeyemi.
Atletico Madrid defeated Osasuna to climb to third place and secure their second consecutive victory. Goals from Jonathan David, Lee Kang-in, Robin Le Normand, and Alex Baena propelled Diego Simeone's squad to a comfortable home win. Although the team was missing injured striker Julian Alvarez, the second straight win helped them narrow the gap with the top two teams.
David opened the scoring for Atletico midway through the first half, despite his initial shot being saved. Baena tested the goalkeeper from distance but narrowly missed. The second goal arrived early in the second half when David assisted Lee, who drilled into the bottom corner. In the 63rd minute, Le Normand scored Atletico's third with a powerful finish following a corner kick cleared into his path. Johnny Cardoso provided the final assist for Baena, who swept home to complete the rout.
Simeone commented on the match, stating, 'We controlled it in the first half even though we weren't clinical. We were clinical in the second half and controlled the game.'
Separately, Sevilla advanced to fourth place, tying with Atletico on 13 points, after achieving a 1-0 victory away against Deportivo La Coruna.