SUPER RAPHINHA: A spectacular left-footed shot gives Barça a golden victory

Raphinha has established himself as the 'executioner' of Benfica. The Brazilian, who scored a brace in the first visit of FC Barcelona to the Estádio da Luz during the group stage, with one of his goals being the winner as the match was dying, once again donned the hero's cape this Wednesday night, this time in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League. 

The day took a turn for the worse at the 22nd minute of the match, when Pau Cubarsí received a red card for a reckless tackle on Pavlidis. From that moment on, the game plan of Hansi Flick's side was inevitably altered, and after cornering the Lisbon players in their half, they were forced to regroup to minimize defensive risks, which diminished their attacking weight.

However, 'Rapha' managed to leave his mark and once again rescued the team. In the 61st minute, the winger, who had moved to the right flank after the substitution of Lamine Yamal to cover the advances of Álvaro Carreras, got behind the left-back to intercept a poor pass from António Silva and headed towards Trubin's area.

The player, who has shown lethal accuracy in front of goal this season, managed to approach the edge of the area and unleashed a perfect low shot, which curled in to hit the post of the Lisbon goal. A true stunner that buried the hopes of the locals and gave the victory to the Blaugrana, who will face the return match at Montjuïc with an advantage in the aggregate score thanks to the Brazilian.

A record season for Raphinha

The numbers of Raphinha in this Champions League are out of this world. The '11' of Barça has scored 9 goals in the competition, making him the second top scorer alongside Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane, and only behind Serhou Guirassy. Additionally, he also leads the assists ranking alongside Kimmich, Hakimi, Zappacosta, De Ketelaere, and Frimpong with 5 assists, establishing himself as the player with the most goal contributions in the tournament (14).

In total, the Porto Alegre native has accumulated 25 goals and 16 assists in what is by far his best season since arriving in the Catalan capital. The South American is the player with the most goal contributions for Barça (41), and with the goal celebrated at the Estádio da Luz, he reached 45 goals as a Blaugrana, tying with Luis Figo and Krankl in the club's historical ranking.

The forward's next objective is to tie with Alexis Sánchez and Robert Fernández, each with 46 goals, and then surpass three Barça legends such as Ronaldo Nazário (47), David Villa (48), and Thierry Henry (49) to place himself in the 50th position of the institution's historical goal scorers ranking.

If he surpasses 'R9', it should be noted that Raphinha would become the fifth highest Brazilian scorer in the history of Barça, only behind Ronaldinho (94), Neymar (105), Evaristo de Macedo (105), and Rivaldo (130). The '11' continues to carve his path to posterity in the Catalan capital.

Raphinha's statistics at FC Barcelona:

📊 2024-2025 Season

1. Matches: 40 (26 in LaLiga | 3 in the Copa del Rey | 9 in the UEFA Champions League | 2 in the Supercopa de España) 
2. Goals: 25
3. Assists: 16
4. Minutes played: 3,262
5. Matches by position: 29 as left winger; 6 as attacking midfielder; 4 as right winger; 1 as left midfielder

📊 Total Statistics

1. Matches: 127 (90 in LaLiga | 9 in the Copa del Rey | 21 in the UEFA Champions League | 5 in the Supercopa de España | 2 in the Europa League) 
2. Goals: 45
3. Assists: 41
4. Minutes played: 8,137
5. Matches by position: 45  as left winger; 7 as attacking midfielder; 69 as right winger; 1 as left midfielder; 1 as central midfielder