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It has been a season of transformation for Raphinha at FC Barcelona. From not being favoured and linked with an exit beneath Xavi Hernandez, to turning into the crew captain and talisman beneath Hansi Flick, the Brazilian winger has come a great distance and completed so in model.
Final evening’s UEFA Champions League encounter in opposition to SL Benfica marked one other step for the Brazilian in direction of establishing himself as an icon on the membership as he confirmed once more that he’s able to step up as a hero for the crew each time wanted.
The winger’s last-gasp aim, to clinch a dramatic 4-5 victory away at Benfica, will stay etched within the recollections of followers for a very long time to come back.
Raphinha on the cusp of matching Vinicius’ greatest season tally
Along with his brace in opposition to Benfica, Raphinha now totals a formidable 25 objectives (22 for Barcelona and three for Brazil) and 9 assists this season and we’re nonetheless in January.
To place his extraordinary returns into perspective, one solely wants to take a look at the numbers of one of many candidates for the final Ballon d’Or – Vinicius Jr. of Actual Madrid.
Merely unstoppable. (Photograph by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Photos)
Vinicius completed second within the Ballon d’Or for 2024, shedding to Manchester Metropolis’s Rodri, after scoring 26 objectives (two of them for Brazil) and offering 10 assists (one for Brazil) over the course of the 2023/24 season, taking part in a complete of 45 matches.
With 34 matches performed and nonetheless many months of the season left, Raphinha is only one aim and one help away from matching these figures.
This isn’t in any method meant to decrease what the Actual Madrid winger achieved final season, however reasonably to focus on the spectacular marketing campaign that the Barcelona captain is having.
Raphinha has scored in each competitors he has performed in (11 in La Liga, eight within the Champions League, one within the Copa del Rey, and two within the Spanish Tremendous Cup) and has assisted in all however the Copa del Rey, the place he nonetheless has the possibility to take action.
If he continues like this, Raphinha could have a shot at profitable all the person awards in a number of months, if Barça go on so as to add extra titles to their Tremendous Cup triumph.
