Raphinha is in his PRIME: the true leader of a super Barça

Between July and August 2024, the name of Raphinha was constantly linked to a possible departure from the Catalan City. The Brazilian, however, remained steadfast in his desire to succeed at FC Barcelona, and now, just over seven months later, he has established himself as one of the great pillars of Hansi Flick's project, whose overwhelming success this season could not be understood without the influence of the '11' culé.

Last Tuesday, for example, 'Rapha' was once again one of the main figures of the azulgrana team in their victory against Benfica in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 (3-1). The player celebrated a brace that, in addition to placing him at the top of the competition's scoring table, sealed the Catalans' passage to the quarter-finals for the second consecutive year.

The Barça is an unstoppable machine. The azulgrana team is leading LaLiga, is one step away from the Copa final, is the Supercopa champion, and is already among the top 8 teams on the continent, and a large part of these spectacular achievements bear the signature of Raphinha, whose offensive production and leadership in the locker room have been crucial for the squad to maintain a crushing pace throughout the season.

No one generates more goals than Raphinha in Hansi Flick's Barça

In total, Raphinha has accumulated 27 goals and 17 assists in the 41 matches he has played this season, participating in 44 of the 128 goals scored by the Catalan team this season, which is 34%. Moreover, 16 of the 32 goals (50%) celebrated by the team in the Champions League have his signature, as he has scored 11 and assisted another 5. Overwhelming numbers from a player of another planet.

Raphinha is the player with the most contributions to goals for Barça (44), ahead of Robert Lewandowski, who remains the team's top scorer with 34 goals but has only provided 3 assists, totaling 37 generated goals, and Lamine Yamal, whose production is 12 goals and 17 assists (29). These figures are completely atypical and impressive but still fall short compared to the brutal statistics of the South American.

Additionally, with the brace celebrated this Tuesday in Montjuïc, the '11' culé reached 47 goals as a blaugrana, equaling a legend of the stature of Ronaldo Nazário in the club's historical ranking. In fact, the Brazilian has tied 'R9' as the fifth highest Brazilian scorer in the history of Barça, only behind Ronaldinho (94), Neymar (105), Evaristo de Macedo (105), and Rivaldo (130).

In this way, 'Rapha' continues to aspire to win everything at both the collective and individual levels with Barça this season. The Porto Alegre native is achieving numbers worthy of a true Ballon d'Or, following in the footsteps of Mohamed Salah, who is also 'flying' with Liverpool. The Egyptian has 32 goals and 22 assists with the 'reds' in 42 matches. However, after Liverpool's elimination from the Champions League, the Brazilian begins to gain momentum in the race for the prestigious award for the best player in the world.

Raphinha's statistics at FC Barcelona:

📊 2024-2025 Season

1. Matches: 41 (26 in LaLiga | 3 in the Copa del Rey | 10 in the UEFA Champions League | 2 in the Supercopa de España) 
2. Goals: 27
3. Assists: 17
4. Minutes played: 3,352
5. Matches by position: 31 as left winger; 6 as attacking midfielder; 4 as right winger

📊 Total Statistics

1. Matches: 128 (90 in LaLiga | 9 in the Copa del Rey | 22 in the UEFA Champions League | 5 in the Supercopa de España | 2 in the Europa League) 
2. Goals: 47
3. Assists: 42
4. Minutes played: 8,227
5. Matches by position: 47 as left winger; 7 as attacking midfielder; 69 as right winger; 1 as central midfielder