Barcelona opened their Champions League campaign in emphatic fashion Wednesday as Raphinha scored twice in a 5-1 demolition of Feyenoord, extending their perfect start to the season and underlining their growing attacking threat.
Raphinha struck twice, while Karim Adeyemi, Lamine Yamal and substitute Gabriel Jesus also found the net as Hansi Flick's side swept aside their Dutch visitors at Camp Nou.
The result gave Barcelona their fifth victory in five matches in all competitions this season, with the Catalan giants scoring five goals in four of those games.
The victory also continued Raphinha's remarkable start to the campaign. Playing in a more advanced role following the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, the Brazil international now has eight goals in five games.
Raphinha opened the scoring after just three minutes, bursting into the penalty area before cutting inside and leaving two defenders sliding helplessly across the rain-soaked turf. He then calmly finished to give Barcelona an early lead.
The match had been preceded by torrential rain in Barcelona, with a storm sweeping across the city and lashing the Camp Nou pitch. But the conditions did little to slow Barcelona, who quickly took control.
Adeyemi doubled the advantage in the 22nd minute with a superb curling effort from outside the penalty area that flew beyond Feyenoord goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.
Barcelona continued to create chances, with Joao Cancelo hitting the post before Raphinha added his second early in the second half. Pedri slipped a perfectly weighted through-ball into his path and Raphinha finished with the composure of a striker who has quickly grown comfortable in his new position.
Feyenoord briefly thought they had responded when Nacho Ferri found the net, but the goal was ruled out following a VAR review for offside in the buildup.
Yamal then added Barcelona's fourth in the 77th minute, bending a left-footed free kick through the defensive wall from around 20 meters. The ball flew through a gap as Feyenoord's players jumped and turned away, giving the teenager another highlight-reel moment on a European night.
"He is outstanding," Flick said of Yamal. "You can see it every game. He is special."
Feyenoord eventually pulled one back through Sem Steijn, who escaped Jules Kounde before meeting Goncalo Borges' low cross at the far post.
The response did little to change the outcome, and Barcelona restored their four-goal advantage five minutes from time. Jesus, introduced from the bench, met Yamal's cross with a glancing header for his first goal since joining Barcelona from Arsenal in the summer.
Flick was pleased with the manner of the performance as much as the scoreline.
"The first five games, we did really good. We scored a lot of goals but the most important thing is we are playing like a team, like one unit," he said.
"We controlled the game, we are dominant and this is fantastic to see. This is our style and how we want to play."
Raphinha, who wore the captain's armband, credited the home crowd for helping Barcelona maintain their intensity.
"Playing in front of our fans we always have to show perfect football, or nearly perfect, and with the support of the fans it's a lot easier," he said.
Despite Barcelona's blistering start, Raphinha warned that the season would inevitably bring tougher moments.
"In a season as long as this, there are many ups and downs," he said. "Starting the season like this obviously gives us a lot of confidence and we have to continue like this. We have to hope the downs are as small as possible."
Barcelona were not alone in making a statement on a goal-filled opening night.
Paris Saint-Germain produced the biggest attacking display of the evening, crushing Slovan Bratislava 6-1 as Ferran Torres scored a hat trick on his Champions League debut for the French champions. Ousmane Dembele added two goals as PSG responded emphatically after a difficult run of domestic results.
The six-goal haul followed a 3-1 victory for Stuttgart over Champions League debutants Viking, with Ermedin Demirovic scoring three times in a remarkable 12-minute spell. The Bosnia and Herzegovina forward struck in the 20th, 26th and 32nd minutes after Viking captain Zlatko Tripic had briefly leveled.
UEFA said Demirovic's hat trick was the eighth-fastest in Champions League history.
Arsenal, meanwhile, produced a typically hard-fought European result, edging Napoli 1-0 away from home through Martin Odegaard's fourth goal of the season. That is already three more than the Arsenal captain scored throughout the entirety of last season.
All four English clubs also won their opening matches. Liverpool rallied from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister scoring for the hosts.
Atletico's Marcos Llorente had given the visitors an early lead, continuing his extraordinary scoring record at Anfield. The midfielder scored his fifth Champions League goal at Liverpool's stadium, matching the number he has managed in his other 56 appearances in the competition.
Llorente's latest strike ultimately counted for little, however, as Liverpool completed the comeback.
The result carried echoes of one of Llorente's most memorable nights at Anfield. In March 2020, he scored twice in extra time to help Atletico beat Liverpool 3-2 and eliminate the defending champions in the last 16.
Elsewhere, Sporting Lisbon recovered from an early setback to beat Galatasaray 3-1, with Rodrigo Zalazar sealing the victory with a powerful curling free kick.
The opening games have already provided a clear indication that goals could be plentiful in the expanded Champions League league phase. Forty-five goals have been scored across the first 12 matches, an average of 3.75 per game, ahead of last season's 3.47.
That 2025-26 average was itself the highest scoring rate in the competition since the European Cup era of the 1960s.
For Barcelona, however, the immediate focus is on a team that appears increasingly confident in its attacking identity.
Raphinha is leading the charge, Yamal continues to produce moments beyond his years, and new arrivals Adeyemi and Jesus have already made their mark.
After waiting since 2015 for another Champions League title, Barcelona could hardly have asked for a more convincing opening statement.
