Barcelona set La Liga xG record with 6.74 in seven-goal win over Racing Santander

Barcelona produced the most dominant expected-goals performance recorded in La Liga as they defeated Racing Santander 7-2 at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

The Catalan club created a remarkable number of opportunities, with their xG figure reaching 6.74. Racing Santander scored twice, but Barcelona’s attacking pressure ensured they still had to retrieve the ball from their net seven times.

The total is the highest recorded in La Liga since data collection began, surpassing Barcelona’s previous record of 6.16. That mark was set in January this year during a 3-1 away victory against Elche under manager Hansi Flick.

The third-highest figure in the competition belongs to Real Madrid, whose xG reached 5.91 in a 4-1 win over Las Palmas in January 2025.

Barcelona’s display also ranks among the best recorded in Europe’s leading domestic leagues. Only Liverpool have produced a higher single-match xG in the top five leagues, reaching 7.1 in their 4-2 victory over Newcastle at Anfield on January 1st, 2024.

The third-highest total across those leagues is 6.43, recorded when Marseille faced Saint-Etienne.

Penalties and a La Liga record for chances

Three penalties were central to Barcelona’s figures against Racing Santander. Raphinha scored from two of them, while Lamine Yamal missed the third in the 45th minute.

Each penalty is assigned an xG value of 0.788, meaning the three spot-kicks contributed 2.364 to Barcelona’s total on their own.

According to Opta, the clearest opportunity of the first half fell to Karim Adeyemi. His header did not result in a goal but carried an xG of 0.96.

Barcelona created 13 big chances during the match, a record in La Liga across the past 10 years. That figure underlined the scale of their attacking performance, beyond the contribution made by the penalties.

Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Adeyemi accounted for most of Barcelona’s overall xG. Raphinha scored a hat-trick and finished with an xG of 2.38, with the two converted penalties contributing to that total.

Yamal had an xG of 1.83 but scored once. He also supplied two assists and was named Player of the Match after receiving a rating of 9.4.

Adeyemi ended the game with an xG of 1.66 but failed to score.