An incredible evening for Barcelona winger Raphinha saw him bag his first-ever Champions League hattrick against Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening.
This was his second three-goal return for the Blaugrana and saw his odds of being the competition's top scorer this season slashed to 16/1.
The Brazilian has netted four times already so far, and stands only one goal behind current bookies’ Champions League top scorer favourite Harry Kane, whose odds stand at 13/8 for the coveted Golden Boot.
Newfound form
Raphinha has been in scintillating form ever since the arrival of new Barcelona manager Hansi Flick. The former Leeds United man has racked up nine goals and six assists in all competitions under the German coach, starting all but one game in the league. Becoming a regular feature in the starting XI means Raphinha provides excellent value for punters, as he is offered a lot more game time in which to find the net.
However, whether he can go all the way is a different story. Erling Haaland’s recent goal drought came to an end as he recorded two goals against a weak Sparta Praha side to see his Champions League tally rise to three. In light of this, bookies shortened the Norwegian’s top scorer odds to 5/2 after Man City’s 5-0 drubbing of the Czech giants on Wednesday night.
Vinicius Junior was equal to Raphinha’s performance too, as he grabbed his own hattrick in a remarkable come-from-behind victory for Real Madrid, as Los Blancos smashed Dortmund 5-2 to put them on six points in the UCL league table.
Vinicius currently stands at 9/1 to be the tournament’s top marksman, his three goals against the BVB being the first he’s registered this campaign.
Colleague providing competition?
Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski are also not to be overlooked at 10/1 and 14/1, respectively. The Polish superstar has already bagged three goals of his own in the competition, his latest coming against his former club Bayern Munich.
Mbappe has been slower to start, with just the one strike to his name thus far. However, with everyone aware of the Frenchman’s quality and 15 goals across the previous two Champions League campaigns, his value at 10/1 is certainly not to be sniffed at.
With no clear leader across the tournament at this stage, it is hard to say whether Raphinha will be able to overcome the plethora of tough rivals with which he is competing in order to be crowned the 24/25 Champions League top scorer.
One thing is for certain though – early signs show Barcelona are in top form and seem likely to progress, which will only give more opportunities for the Brazilian to find himself on the scoresheet.
Lifelong Ipswich Town supporter who recently graduated from Durham University in French and German. Have developed a passion for European football based on my links abroad and am an avid supporter of Werder Bremen and Auxerre. Joined the MFT team in October 2024 and looking to take my first steps into the world of football journalism.
In December 2020 we sadly 
