Raphinha's start to the season has written him into Barcelona's history books. The Brazilian scored in the Catalan side's first five matches this term, a feat never before achieved in the club's history.
Two forwards had managed to score in the opening five rounds of the Spanish league in previous seasons: Cesar Rodriguez in 1950-1951 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2009-2010.
Raphinha, though, has so far played only four rounds in La Liga, because Barcelona's fifth match came in the Champions League.
He has scored in every match Barcelona have played so far. Two goals against Elche, one against Athletic Bilbao, another two against Rayo Vallecano and one at the Mestalla against Valencia, before he carried the streak into Europe with a brace in the 5-1 win over Feyenoord.
Sport newspaper reported that the Brazilian has begun the season at a level far exceeding anything he produced in previous campaigns, hitting scoring numbers he had never reached in his career. His figures now allow him to compare himself not only to the best forwards in the Spanish league, but to some of the most prominent scorers in Europe and the world.
Eight goals in Barcelona's first five official matches tell the story: six in the Spanish league and two on his Champions League debut against Feyenoord. Across roughly 390 minutes on the pitch, that works out at a goal every 49 minutes or so.
The streak has also carried him into the club's history books. No Barcelona player had ever scored in the first five matches of a single season across different competitions.
Before the European match, Raphinha had already become the sixth player in Barcelona's history to score in the first four rounds of the Spanish league, following names such as Kubala, Cesar, Ibrahimovic, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi.
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