Lamine Yamal walks onto the Spotify Camp Nou pitch on Wednesday having scored in his last four Barcelona matches. Racing Santander are the next chance to make it five.
He is coming off his third brace of the La Liga season, at Levante on Saturday, and the numbers keep pointing at one comparison. Yamal is the second player this century to record three two-goal games in the opening five rounds of a Spanish league season. The only other one is Lionel Messi, in 2012.
beIN Sports put a number on the gap: a Messi record that had stood for 14 years.
Six goals from three braces, plus a Feyenoord free-kick
Yamal’s La Liga tally has come in twos: two against Rayo Vallecano, two against Valencia and two against Levante. He also curled a direct free-kick against Feyenoord in the Champions League between the last two of those league braces, leaving him on seven goals in four appearances and joint top of the La Liga scoring charts with team-mate Raphinha.
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The run of three successive La Liga doubles is a level only Lionel Messi (April 2017) and Robert Lewandowski (October 2024) had previously reached in a Barcelona shirt, according to the same report.
Racing Santander back at Camp Nou
Real Racing Club travel to Catalonia newly promoted for the 2026-27 La Liga season. Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have won all five of their opening league matches.
Ballon d’Or race raises the stakes on every goal
The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony has been set for London on 26 October, the 70th edition of the award and the first ever held in the English capital. Barcelona have launched an official campaign backing Yamal’s bid, according to africasoccer.com, and voting closes after England face Spain at Wembley.
Kick-off at Spotify Camp Nou is at 9:30pm local time on Wednesday.
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