Why Raphinha Trended in India: Record-Breaking Form at Barca

The Reason for the Search Spike

On 20 September 2026, Google Trends recorded a significant surge in searches for "raphinha" in India, with approximately 200 queries in 24 hours and a 1000% growth rate. This spike was driven by the Brazilian forward's historic performance for FC Barcelona, specifically his role in a 3-1 comeback victory against Sevilla.

A 'Perfect' Hat-Trick and Back-to-Back Trebles

Raphinha's performance against Sevilla was particularly notable because he scored a "perfect" hat-trick—meaning he scored one goal with his right foot, one with his head, and one with his left foot. This was the first such feat by a Barca player since May 2015.

This match marked his second hat-trick in just 72 hours, following a similar treble in a 7-2 win over Racing de Santander. According to club records, this rare LaLiga achievement has not been matched since Antoine Griezmann in the 2017/18 season, and within Barcelona's history, only Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez have achieved consecutive hat-tricks.

Breaking Club Records as a New Number Nine

The surge in goals is linked to a tactical shift by manager Hansi Flick. Following the summer exits of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, Raphinha was deployed in an unfamiliar central role as the number nine. This transition has proven highly successful, with the forward averaging nearly two goals per game.

Metric	Raphinha's Achievement (as of 20 Sept 2026)	Previous Record/Context
Total Goals (8 Games)	14 Goals	César Rodríguez (13 goals, 1948/49)
LaLiga Start (7 Games)	12 Goals	3rd best start in LaLiga history
Recent Form	2 Hat-tricks in 72 hours	Only Messi and Suárez did this for Barca

By reaching 14 goals in eight appearances across all competitions, Raphinha set a new club record for the best ever goalscoring start. His 12 goals in the first seven LaLiga matches also place him among the top three best scoring starts in the history of the competition, trailing only Echevarría and Cristiano Ronaldo.