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Barcelona striker Raphinha is enjoying a good season and, in all likelihood, his best yet. Against Benfica, when the Blaugrana achieved victory in the Champions League, he was the center of attention both on and off the field.
The Brazilian scored an improbable brace, with his first goal inadvertently deflecting off his head and into the goal after a pass from Benfica goalkeeper Anatoli Trubin. The second was all to his credit as he ran behind the defense in the 96th minute before cutting inside and shooting past the Ukrainian goalkeeper.
Raphinha has already racked up an impressive 25 goals and 9 assists this season. With 34 matches played and many months of competition still ahead of him, the Brazilian is on track to compete for all the major individual awards if he maintains this incredible form. @sport pic.twitter.com/Wu5RS9YTWP
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 22, 2025
Anyway, Raphinha received the UEFA Man of the Match award, but it took him some time to appear before the media. Barcelona conceded a soft penalty in the first half, but received one of their own for a light touch on Lamine Yamal, and avoided a penalty on the same play in which Raphinha scores. He was asked if he preferred UEFA referees to La Liga referees, to which he had a surprising answer.
“If I say what I think, maybe they won’t let me play in La Liga again,” he told Cadena SER.
The context comes from last weekend, when Barcelona were denied what they felt was a clear penalty on Jules Kounde, at the end of a 1-1 draw with Getafe. The referee was not called by the VAR to look at the monitor, which caused outrage from the Blaugrana.
Coach Hansi Flick has done everything possible to avoid controversy this season, but clearly did not consider it debatable, according to his statements before the game against Benfica. Barcelona president Joan Laporta was much harsher with his assessment of the decision, in what he considers a constant problem in Spanish football: almost without exception, all La Liga teams feel like victims of refereeing this season. .
