Raphinha debuted as a scorer in the preseason in the Gamper

FC Barcelona regained the crown of the Joan Gamper Trophy with a 'manita' against the Italian Como (5-0). Hansi Flick's team had fallen in the previous edition against Monaco (0-3) and, on Sunday, they gave no option to Cesc Fàbregas' team. Before the break, the match was completely settled, with a difference of four goals in favor of the 'culés'.

One of Barça's goals was scored by Raphinha. In the 37th minute, the Brazilian took advantage of a pass from Marcus Rashford from the right flank to finish at will against goalkeeper Butez, pushing the ball into the goal without obstruction from any rival.

Just before the break, in the 42nd minute, Rafa stole a ball inside the area from the Belgian Van der Brempt. The '11' took the opportunity to pass to Lamine Yamal, who did his duty by sending a pass into the back of the net that left him one-on-one against the French goalkeeper.

Raphinha made his first offensive contribution of the preseason

In this way, Raphinha opened his offensive record of the summer in the Gamper, since in the Asian tour, despite being a starter in the three matches against Vissel, Seoul and Daegu, he had not added goals or assists.

In the four friendlies of the summer, the Porto Alegre native alternated the position of left winger with that of attacking midfielder. The '11' looks much more comfortable leaning on the wing, with Dani Olmo and/or Fermín López entering through the middle, behind the center forward.

Against Como, the player from Huelva was in charge of this task. The '16' had a very good match, scoring a double that set the Azulgrana rout on track. Olmo, for his part, only started against Seoul, but closed the tour with a couple of assists.

In that sense, Marcus Rashford should be Raphinha's direct competition for the left wing position. The Englishman also played as a '9' against Daegu and Como, but in theory Ferran Torres will be the direct replacement for Robert Lewandowski as long as the '7' is physically fit.

Surpassing his records from 24/25, Raphinha's great challenge to maintain his starting position

In any case, Hansi Flick has much more depth in attack to rotate and maintain a lethal offensive production. In the four preseason friendlies, Barça scored 20 goals, at a rate of 5 per match.

After a discreet victory in Japan (1-3), came the thrashings against Seoul (3-7), Daegu (0-5) and Como (5-0). Lamine Yamal was the 'Pichichi' with 4 goals, while Rafa, from next Saturday, will work hard to surpass his impressive records from 24/25.

The Brazilian scored 34 goals and 23 assists the previous year, being the player with the most participations in goals in the five major European leagues (tied with Mohamed Salah). Will the 27-year-old striker be able to improve this record?

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