Lamine Yamal channeled recent criticism into fuel on the pitch, scoring twice to lead Barcelona to a 5–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano at Spotify Camp Nou on Matchday 3 of La Liga.
The defending champions did not enjoy an ideal start, as Sergio Camello stunned the hosts with an opening goal in the 12th minute, converting Álvaro García’s pass with a powerful strike into the net. However, the response was swift: Raphinha equalized in the 19th minute, before Yamal turned the scoreline around just two minutes later.
Yamal’s first goal arrived in spectacular fashion, receiving the ball on the right wing, cutting inside, and unleashing a curling left-footed shot into the top corner past goalkeeper Dani Cárdenas to give Barcelona a 2–1 lead.
In the second half, Florian Lejeune scored an own goal in the 51st minute to extend Barcelona’s advantage to 3–1. Camello briefly brought Rayo back into the match with his second goal in the 59th minute, but Raphinha struck again on a counterattack in the 71st minute before Yamal sealed the 5–2 win in the closing stages.
Yamal’s brace offered a decisive response to his critics while making history: his second goal took his career total to 51 goals in all competitions for Barcelona.
Achieving this milestone at 19 years and 49 days old, Yamal became the youngest player across Europe’s top five leagues to surpass 50 competitive goals for a single club since detailed data tracking began in at least the 2014–2015 season.
Meanwhile, Raphinha brought his tally to 5 goals in the opening 3 matches of the La Liga season, becoming the first player to reach that mark in a team’s first three league fixtures since Lionel Messi for Barcelona in 2017–2018.
With this result, Barcelona reached 9 points from three wins, holding top spot in La Liga alongside Real Madrid. The title race heats up early as José Mourinho’s side also maintained a perfect record, highlighted by emphatic wins over Real Sociedad (4–1) and Málaga (4–0).
Barcelona visit Valencia at Mestalla on Sunday, September 6, 2026, at 17:15 Cairo time, for Matchday 4 of La Liga.
