Raphinha reaches 40: leader in generated goals for Barça in the 24/25 season

FC Barcelona continues to take advantage of Raphinha's great form this season. In the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals against Atlético de Madrid (4-4), the Brazilian did not score, but he did contribute with two assists, in addition to creating at least a couple more goal opportunities that were unfortunately wasted by Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski. Still, the '11' reached 16 assists this season, bringing his total to 40 goal contributions for the team (24G/16A).

Indeed, Rafa surpassed Lamine Yamal on Tuesday as the leader in assists for the team, with one more assist than the young player (15). The player from Mataró also provided one of the goals for the team against the 'colchonero' side, but the Porto Alegre native created more opportunities (4) throughout the match. In the 12th minute, the Brazilian delivered a perfect pass that left Ferran one-on-one with Musso, but the 'Shark' failed to finish.

After that, the corners allowed Barça to come back in the match. Raphinha curled a delivery to the far post that resulted in headed goals from Pau Cubarsí and Iñigo Martínez, both arriving unmarked thanks to good runs and the defensive passivity of Atlético. In the second half, with the score at 4-2 in favor, the '11' provided a perfect low pass for Robert Lewandowski to seal his personal double, but the '9' was impeded by Lenglet and could not direct his shot.

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

Against Atlético, Barça reached 120 goals scored in 39 official matches. Rafa has participated in 40 of those goals (33.3%), more than any other Barça player in his 38 official appearances. Lewandowski remains the team's top scorer with 33 goals, but he has only provided 3 assists, totaling 36 generated goals. In Lamine's case, his production is 11 goals and 15 assists (26), incredible figures for a player of his age, but far from the records of the South American winger.

Thus, Raphinha continues to aspire to win everything at both the collective and individual levels with Barcelona 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 30 goals and 21 assists with the 'reds' in the same number of matches (38).