FC Barcelona's win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday (4-1) will be remembered for a long time, especially by Raphinha. The '11' scored a hat-trick against the Bavarians in 56 minutes with which he was also able to equal a record achieved by his idol and compatriot Neymar in 2015.
The current Saudi Al Hilal player was the last player capable of scoring two goals against Bayern in the first half. The one from Mogi das Cruzes did it in the second leg of the 2014/15 'semi', in Munich, scoring in the 15th and 29th minutes against the team then coached by Pep Guardiola.
Barça had scored in the first leg at Camp Nou (3-0) and, with 'Ney''s double, they finished off the tie, although the Bavarians turned the result around in Munich (3-2) in the second half with goals from Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller, both starters on Wednesday, but with the Pole on the Barça side.
Raphinha's display against Bayern is no coincidence
Raphinha, for his part, scored in the 1st minute and in the 45th minute, two goals that buried Munich's hopes of prolonging their European dominance against Barça. Not in vain, the culés had not defeated the Bavarians since 2015, with six defeats in a row in which Bayern scored 22 goals, with only 4 conceded.
For the one from Porto Alegre, there are now 9 goals in 13 games this season in all competitions, 4 in 3 Champions League matches, which leaves him just 1 goal away from the limit reached in his two previous seasons with Barça. In 2014/15, Neymar scored 39 goals (as well as 11 assists) in 51 appearances.
Can Rapha come close to these records? At the moment, he is going at a very good pace to close what, without a doubt, could be a historic season for him and the team led by Hansi Flick.