Raphinha continues to shine: another assist to keep dreaming of the Ballon d'Or

Even on one of his most 'dull' nights, Raphinha played a crucial role in helping FC Barcelona secure another victory, maintain their unbeaten streak and take a key step towards the LaLiga title. The Brazilian was one of the main victims of the 'wall' of Atlético de Madrid, which closed all possible spaces for much of the match and prevented the '11' from exploiting his explosiveness and speed in attack.

However, the winger demonstrated his ability to influence the game from other facets, and although the Atlético defense put much of their efforts into nullifying him, the player managed to leave his mark on the Catalans' comeback.

At 78', six minutes after Robert Lewandowski reduced the deficit on the scoreboard, the Porto Alegre native sent a well-placed pass to the head of Ferran Torres, who only needed to touch the ball to beat Oblak and equalize the score, completing the comeback for the culés. Shortly after, Flick's team would score two more goals to leave the Riyadh Air Metropolitano with three points in their pocket.

In this way, Raphinha reached 18 assists this season, 8 of them in LaLiga, and remains the second highest assister in the domestic competition, tying with Iñaki Williams and three behind Lamine Yamal (11), the sole leader of the ranking. 

📊Top Assistants in LaLiga EA Sports 2024-2025:

1. Lamine Yamal (FC Barcelona): 11 assists
2. Raphinha (FC Barcelona): 8 assists
3. Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club): 8 assists
4. Álex Berenguer (Athletic Club): 7 assists
5. Alex Baena (Villarreal): 7 assists
6. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid): 6 assists
7. Dani Rodríguez (Mallorca): 6 assists
8. Sergi Cardona (Villarreal): 6 assists
9. Saúl Ñíguez (Sevilla): 6 assists
10. Nico Williams (Athletic Club): 5 assists

Raphinha, the goal machine of Hansi Flick's Barça

In total, the Porto Alegre native has accumulated 27 goals and 18 assists in 42 matches played, in what is by far his best season since arriving in the City of Barcelona. These 27 goals are distributed across LaLiga (13), Champions League (11), Supercopa de España (2), and Copa del Rey (1), while his assists are spread across the league (8), the continental tournament (5), the Cup (4), and the Supercopa (1), doubling his records from his first two seasons as a culé.

Raphinha is the player with the most goal contributions for Barça (45), ahead of Robert Lewandowski who remains the team's top scorer with 35 goals, but has only provided 3 assists, totaling 38 generated goals, and Lamine Yamal whose production stands at 13 goals and 17 assists (30). These figures are completely atypical and impressive but still fall short compared to the brutal statistics of the South American.

Raphinha continues his path towards the Ballon d'Or

With his 27 goals and 18 assists, Raphinha has thus participated in 45 of the 132 goals scored by the Catalan team this season, which is 34%. Moreover, 21 of the 75 goals (28%) that the culés have scored in LaLiga and 16 of the 32 (50%) they have celebrated in the Champions League have his signature, with 13G/8A in the domestic competition and 11G/5A at the continental level. Overwhelming numbers from a player of another planet.

With these records, 'Rapha' has shattered the statistics that made Vinicius one of the top candidates to win the Ballon d'Or last season. The Real Madrid winger, who lost the award to Rodri, scored 25 goals and provided 12 assists in 40 matches played, figures that have already been significantly surpassed by the Barça attacker.

On the other hand, the candidacy of Mohamed Salah, who until recently was the favorite to win the award, has been left in a highly delicate state after his Liverpool was eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain and lost the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle. Two matches in which the Egyptian could not transcend and which have seriously compromised his chances in the race for the award.

Thus, Raphinha gains more and more strength in the fight for the prestigious recognition as the best player in the world. Especially if Barça wins any major trophy, a fact that is more than likely as the culés are fully engaged in the race for all titles and the dream of the treble is more alive than ever.

Raphinha's statistics at FC Barcelona:

📊 2024-2025 Season

1. Matches: 42 (27 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: 18
4. Minutes played: 3,441
5. Matches by position: 32 as left winger; 6 as attacking midfielder; 4 as right winger

📊 Total Statistics

1. Matches: 128 (91 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: 43
4. Minutes played: 8,316
5. Matches by position: 48 as left winger; 7 as attacking midfielder; 69 as right winger; 1 as central midfielder