Raphinha is having fun with the perfect season of his profession by a long way and is one in every of Barcelona’s most decisive gamers in assault. The numbers, actually, put him as one in every of Europe’s finest and a critical contender for the Ballon d’Or.
Any speak of the distinguished award distributed by France Soccer and UEFA at this level brings up the subject of Vinicius Jr,. who Actual Madrid declare was snubbed of the award final yr when Rodri was named the winner.
A comparability of Raphinha’s numbers this yr to Vinicius’ final time period, surprisingly, exhibits Raphinha’s dominance and its magnitude.
The perfect Brazilian footballer
Final season was Vinicius’ finest yr in a Actual Madrid shirt and the requires him to win the Ballon d’Or had been primarily based on his staggering numbers of 25 targets and 12 assists.
Unstoppable Raphinha. (Photograph by Fran Santiago/Getty Photographs)
Simply over midway via the season and Raphinha already has 24 targets to his identify. Added to that, he has offered 13 assists and is thus one help above his compatriot’s numbers for final season.
When one takes into consideration that the Brazilian doesn’t even take penalties commonly for Barcelona, it solely provides perspective to how brutal his numbers are this season and the way far forward he’s of Vinicius’ ‘Ballon d’Or yr’.
With 24 targets to this point, Raphinha is one objective away from Vinicius’ tally from final season whereas nonetheless having half the season to go. He has additionally crossed the Actual Madrid star’s tallies of 23 targets in 2022-23 and 22 targets in 2021-22.
The Barcelona captain can also be forward of Vinicius on this season’s Pichichi race the place he presently sits in third place on 13 targets. He’s additionally forward of him within the UEFA Champions League the place he’s the second top-scorer with eight to his identify.