Real Madrid, beware: Red-hot Raphinha is back and proving to be more than a one-season wonder for Barcelona
Barca have lost four games in all competitions this season. Raphinha missed three of them through injury, and began the other on the bench. He’s also started seven times since recovering from the hamstring problem that sidelined him for two months. Unsurprisingly, Barca won each and every single match, with Raphinha directly involved in eight goals.
He’s also become such an influential figure in the dressing room that his mere presence on the pitch lifts those around him. “Having Raphinha with us is a huge pleasure, especially for the young players,” Barca left-back Alejandro Balde said recently, “because he always offers a lot of advice.”
Raphinha, though, can even be a source of comfort and encouragement for Flick. During the laboured win over Alaves back in November, he went to reassure his concerned coach, who was sat on the Barca bench looking visibly emotional. “We will improve,” he told Flick. “We will be much better in the upcoming matches.” And Raphinha was right.
Barca are presently on a nine-game winning run in all competitions and Wednesday’s 5-0 rout of Athletic Club in the Spanish Cup semi-finals felt like a statement of intent. Unsurprisingly, Raphinha was key, creating two goals and scoring one himself. It was the kind of decisive display that he’d delivered on a remarkably regular basis last season and suggested that 2026 might actually be an even bigger year for the Brazil international than 2025.
He’s described winning the Champions League as “a personal challenge”, and lifting the World Cup as his “biggest dream”. However, Raphinha has also admitted to being driven by the disappointment of not getting the recognition he felt he “deserved” after the best season of his career – and that’s arguably no bad thing for Barcelona.
Flick was spot on when he said the 29-year-old being left out of The Best FIFA Men’s 11 was “a joke” but the Blaugrana could end up having the last laugh, because whereas Madrid winger Vinicius Junior has yet to recover from his 2024 Ballon d’Or blow, Raphinha’s revenge mission is already looking like it could be a spectacular success.
