Raphinha, Yamal Fire Barcelona Past Rayo in Seven-Goal Thriller

Raphinha and Lamine Yamal both scored twice, while Florian Lejeune put through his own net as Hansi Flick’s champions continued their impressive start to the campaign. Sergio Camello scored both goals for Rayo.

The visitors stunned Barcelona after only 12 minutes.

Alvaro Garcia broke quickly down the left before reaching the byline and pulling the ball back towards Camello, who met the delivery with a sharp near-post finish to give Rayo a surprise lead.

Barcelona had dominated possession during the opening stages and quickly increased the pressure after falling behind.

Their response arrived in the 19th minute.

Xavi Espart found Raphinha around the edge of the penalty area, and the Brazilian worked his way past Pathe Ciss before calmly slotting beyond Dani Cardenas to make it 1-1.

Only two minutes later, Barcelona were ahead.

After appeals for a handball were ignored, Marc Bernal remained alert and recovered possession before finding Yamal on the right.

The winger moved inside onto his left foot and curled an outstanding finish into the top corner for his first league goal of the season.

Barcelona thought they had added a third shortly before half-time when Jules Kounde converted after Anthony Gordon’s shot had been saved, but VAR ruled the defender offside.

Flick’s side therefore went into the interval with a 2-1 advantage after overturning Rayo’s lead in the space of just two minutes.

The champions stretched their advantage six minutes after the restart.

Rayo lost possession in midfield and Gordon was released down the left. His attempted cutback towards Raphinha was intercepted by Lejeune, but the defender could only divert the ball into his own net.

Rayo again demonstrated their willingness to fight back.

In the 59th minute, Unai Lopez delivered an excellent corner from the right and Camello rose above the Barcelona defence to head into the bottom corner for his second goal of the night.

The striker almost completed a hat-trick moments later when Joan Garcia denied Alvaro Garcia and Camello threatened to convert the rebound.

Barcelona responded decisively.

Gordon was again heavily involved in the 71st minute, showing excellent awareness after being played into space on the left.

The England international cleverly flicked the ball into the path of the overlapping Raphinha, who drove forward before beating Cardenas to restore Barcelona’s two-goal advantage.

The assist was Gordon’s third of the league campaign, continuing an encouraging start following his move to Barcelona.

Raphinha departed in the closing stages having scored his fourth and fifth league goals of the season, while Karim Adeyemi was introduced for Gordon.

Adeyemi then made his own contribution in the 90th minute.

The substitute worked the ball back towards Yamal, who curled another excellent left-footed strike beyond Cardenas and into the bottom corner to complete the scoring.

Yamal’s second goal made it 5-2 and capped another prolific attacking display from the defending champions.

The victory also extended Barcelona’s winning start to three league matches.

They opened the campaign with a 5-0 victory over Elche before beating Athletic Club 2-0 and have now scored 12 goals across their opening three fixtures.

Raphinha continues to lead the attack with five league goals, while Yamal’s brace provided another reminder of his ability to decide matches from the right flank.

Rayo, meanwhile, remain without a victory after their opening three matches despite a determined performance and two well-taken goals from Camello.

Barcelona travel to Valencia for their next league assignment, while Rayo will attempt to secure their first victory when they face Racing Santander.