Raphinha Ballon d'Or: Champions League top scorer

FC Barcelona said goodbye to the Champions League with a dramatic defeat against Inter Milan (4-3) in a match where Raphinha managed to reach the top of the tournament's goalscoring charts. The '11' scored the partial 2-3 for Hansi Flick's team in the 87th minute, a goal that seemed to seal the qualification of the Blaugrana team.

The Brazilian received a pass from Pedri and, after an initial shot rejected by Yann Sommer, he took the rebound to blast the Swiss goalkeeper with a crossed shot. It was his 13th goal in this edition of the Champions League and his 16th in 26 appearances with the 'culés' in Europe's top club competition, where he also has 15 assists.

Unfortunately, goals from Francesco Acerbi and Davide Frattesi allowed Inter to advance to the final in extra time. For Raphinha, the 24/25 season has allowed him to reach authentic Ballon d'Or records, with 32 goals and 23 assists in 53 matches.

🔝Raphinha made history with Barça in the Champions League, despite not reaching the final

In addition to equaling Serhou Guirassy as the tournament's top scorer, Raphinha became the second player capable of participating in 22 goals in the same edition of the Champions League. Previously, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 17 goals and 5 assists in 2013/14 with Real Madrid.

The Brazilian, however, closed the season with 13 goals and 9 assists in the 14 Champions League matches that Barça played this season. In the Catalan team, the record for most goal involvements in a Champions League was held by Leo Messi in 2011/12 (14G/5A). 'La Pulga', however, remains the player with the most goals in a season (14).

And, as for the 'Pichichi', there is no doubt that his performance is more meritorious, since Guirassy, although he also scored 13 goals in 14 appearances, took advantage of playing in the 'play-off' against Sporting CP.

Without those two matches, the Guinean would have finished the competition with 12 goals, one more than Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane. Further back is Lautaro Martínez (9), who also added one more goal in the second leg of the 'semi-finals' against Barça, opening the scoring.

⚽Top scorers Champions League 24-25 - Semi-finals

• 13 goals Raphinha (FC Barcelona/ESP)
• 13 goals - Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund/GER)
• 11 goals - Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona/ESP)
• 11 goals - Harry Kane (Bayern München/GER)
• 9 goals - Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan/ITA)
• 8 goals - Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA)
• 8 goals - Erling Haaland (Man City/ENG)
• 8 goals - Vinicius Júnior (Real Madrid/ESP)
• 7 goals - Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid/ESP)
• 7 goals - Julián Álvarez (Atlético de Madrid/ESP)
• 7 goals - Vangelis Pavlidis (Benfica/POR)
• 7 goals - Jonathan David (Lille/FRA)
• 6 goals - Viktor Gyökeres (Sporting CP/POR)
• 6 goals - Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen/GER)
• 6 goals - Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid/ESP)
• 6 goals - Santiago Giménez (AC Milan/ITA)

🏆The 2025 Ballon d'Or admits no discussion: Raphinha should be the fifth Brazilian to win it

Raphinha in the match between FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League 2024 25

No matter what happens in the Champions League final, if Barça does the double, the 2025 Ballon d'Or already has an owner. No footballer this season has had similar or superior figures and impact on the performance of his club than Raphinha.

While Mohamed Salah's records are similar to those of the '11' culé (33 goals and 23 assists), the Egyptian only won the Premier League with Liverpool, completing a very poor performance in the Champions League round of 16 against PSG and in the final of the English League Cup against Newcastle.

The Egyptian will have an extra advantage due to the dispute of the Club World Cup, but this tournament, after all, will have a minor impact on the season. Furthermore, if Vinicius Jr., for many, deserved to win the Ballon d'Or in 2024 having achieved much more discreet numbers than Rapha (25G/12A), then the debate this 2025, without a European Championship or World Cup in between, seems settled.

In this way, for the first time since 2007 (Kaká, with AC Milan), a Brazilian footballer would manage to win the award given by 'France Football'. Previously, Rivaldo (1999) and Ronaldinho Gaúcho (2005) won the award wearing the Blaugrana shirt, while Ronaldo Nazário did so on two occasions (1997 and 2002), with Inter and Real Madrid.