# Raphinha reaches Messi’s remarkable 15-goal pace at Barcelona

Raphinha’s brace against Alavés took him to 15 LaLiga goals, matching Lionel Messi’s tally at the same stage of a Barcelona league campaign. Reaching that mark after the opening eleven matchdays gives the Brazilian’s start to the season a place alongside one of the most remarkable scoring benchmarks in the club’s history.

Analysis · La Liga
Editorial board · 2 November 2026

Raphinha has reached a scoring pace that Barcelona have not seen matched by many. His two goals against Alavés took him to 15 in the opening 11 matchdays of LaLiga, level with Lionel Messi’s return at the same stage of the 2012-13 campaign. The comparison is precise: the same club, the same competition and the same point in the season. It places Raphinha alongside a benchmark set by the player whose name remains central to Barcelona’s history.

The achievement becomes even more striking when his appearances are considered. Raphinha has reached the total in ten league appearances, starting nine of them. He has therefore matched Messi’s early-season tally without appearing in every match available to Barcelona. The figure speaks not only to the volume of his goals, but to the frequency with which he is now deciding games.

His latest contribution showed how closely he is connected to Barcelona’s attacking play. The opening goal against Alavés came at the end of a move involving nine players. The ball had travelled through 15 passes before Pedri released Fermín López down the left and the midfielder squared for Raphinha. The second goal, in the 41st minute, came from a different kind of move: Fermín won possession and supplied him again. Raphinha finished both chances, turning the midfielder’s two assists into the brace that brought him level with Messi.

The setting mattered. Barcelona entered the match after consecutive defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, but responded with a 6-1 victory in which Raphinha and Lamine Yamal both scored twice. The result gave Barcelona ten wins from their opening eleven league games and kept them at the top of LaLiga. Raphinha’s goals were central to that response, not a statistical footnote to it.

Messi’s 2012-13 campaign belongs to its own history, and matching his tally at this stage does not mean the two seasons will follow the same course. It does establish the level Raphinha has reached. Fifteen goals this early in a league campaign would be a major achievement for any forward; matching Messi’s figure at Barcelona makes it a particularly meaningful one. Raphinha has not simply made a strong start. He has reached a standard that gives his season a place in a much bigger conversation.