Raphinha, on par with two Brazilian legends of Barça

Raphinha is having his breakout season in the elite. The Brazilian, who turns 28 on December 14, is one of the standout players of the new FC Barcelona under Hansi Flick, celebrating in style as one of the team captains and reaching milestones set by other Brazilian legends who have worn the blue and claret jersey.

With the goal scored against Borussia Dortmund last Wednesday in the Champions League, the winger has been involved in 12 goals in the European competition this 2024 (9 goals and 3 assists). Last season, he scored 3 goals against PSG and provided 1 assist, while this season he has already accumulated 6 (Young Boys, Bayern Munich x3, Red Star, and Dortmund), in addition to 2 assists.

Raphinha, on par with two great Brazilians

With this achievement, Raphinha has become the fourth Brazilian player with the most goal contributions in the Champions League in a calendar year, joining two 'verdeamarela' legends who also played at Spotify Camp Nou. The first of them, Rivaldo, set this record in 2000 with 11 goals and 1 assist.

The following year, Giovane Élber joined the list while playing for Bayern Munich, matching the same figures as the Ballon d'Or winner. More than a decade later, Neymar Jr. achieved this twice, once with Barça (2015) and once with PSG (2017), totaling 9 goals and 3 assists and 8 goals and 4 assists, respectively. Now, 'Rapha', alongside Vinicius Jr., has managed to sit at the table of these stars after his spectacular end to the year.