MADRID (AP) — Raphinha scored a hat trick as Barcelona earned yet another big win on Wednesday, routing Racing Santander 7-2 for its best-ever start to a season.
The Catalan club had never won seven games in a row. It has won six straight in the league and another in the Champions League.
Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal also found the net for Barcelona, which has scored at least five goals in five of its seven matches across all competitions this season.
In the English League Cup, Manchester United was stunned 3-2 by Brighton after squandering a two-goal lead to crash out in round three.
In the Europa League, Benfica beat AC Milan 2-0 on the road in the first round of the league stage.
Barcelona and Raphinha stay red-hot in Spain
With his hat trick, Raphinha took his league-leading tally to nine goals in six matches. The Brazil forward has scored a goal in all but one game this season.
“Happy for the goals and for the victory, which is the most important thing,” Raphinha said. “The players have the hunger to always want more. It’s a mentality to always try to score more goals and to create more scoring opportunities.”
João Cancelo also scored for Barcelona, which was helped by an own-goal from Racing’s Asier Villalibre. Maguette Gueye and Yassir Zabiri scored for the visitors.
Barcelona has only failed to score fewer than four goals this season in a 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona had previously won six games in a row to start the season — in 1929-30, 1960-61 and 2018-19, the club said.
Yamal had a goal disallowed for offside, missed a penalty and hit the post before finally scoring late for Barcelona.
The La Liga champion has also crushed Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia in the league, and Feyenoord in the Champions League.
Hansi Flick's team has outscored opponents 33-7 in seven games across all competitions. Barcelona has a three-point league lead over Real Madrid, which won at Elche on Tuesday.
Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García was replaced by Wojciech Szczesny at halftime because of an apparent injury. Szczesny's blunder led to a Racing goal after the goalkeeper tried to control the ball inside the area and was robbed in front of the net.
Atletico Madrid routed visiting Osasuna 4-0 with goals by Jonathan David, Lee Kang-In, Robin Le Normand and Álex Baena.
It was the second win in a row for Diego Simeone's team, which moved to third. Osasuna has lost three in a row.
Sevilla jumped to fourth by winning 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruña with a second-half goal by Miguel Sierra. Sevilla has won two in a row. Deportivo stayed seventh.
The game between Levante and Athletic Bilbao was postponed because of heavy rain in the city of Valencia.
United upset by Brighton rally in League Cup
Manchester United was booed at Old Trafford after it fell to a third defeat of the season, and second in as many games following Sunday’s loss to Manchester City.
“We had the game exactly where we wanted it and let it get away from us in a big way,” United coach Michael Carrick told Sky Sports. “We can’t accept that as a group. I take responsibility for it.”
United led 2-0 after 10 minutes through goals from Shea Lacey and Mason Mount. But Brighton rallied with Charalampos Kostoulas pulling one back before halftime, and Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper secured victory after the break.
Defeat means United has suffered elimination from the League Cup at the earliest stage for the second season in a row after being knocked out by fourth-tier Grimsby last year.
Benfica tops Milan as Europa League kicks off
Benfica beat AC Milan in the highlight match in the Europa League.
Dodi Lukébakio and Jakub Kaminski scored a goal in each half for the Portuguese club.
Sparta Prague won 4-1 at Ararat-Armenia for the round's biggest victory.
Sunderland beat visiting AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in its first European match in more than seven decades. Lyon won 2-1 at Anderlecht, while Bayer Leverkusen defeated visiting Celje 2-0.
Celta Vigo's winless start to the season reached seven matches after a 1-0 loss at Omonia.
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Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press
