Just a few days ago, Raphinha explained his transformation. He was on the verge of leaving in the summer after a poor season under Xavi Hernández, but the arrival of Hansi Flick changed everything, and the Brazilian’s performance this season has been outstanding. You only have to look at his statistics to understand why many consider him a strong candidate for the Ballon d’Or.
With every game, Raphinha has established himself as Barça’s main chance creator, leading Europe in big chances created with 25. That’s just one of the statistics in which the Brazilian is excelling this season. As we mentioned, the Barça winger is the most decisive player in Europe in terms of creating chances. According to data from the specialist website Squawka, published a few days ago, the Barça player leads the five major European leagues in terms of big chances created with a total of 25. A figure that, days later, is now even higher after playing in the Champions League and La Liga.
It was in last week’s Champions League match against Inter Milan at Montjuic that Raphinha managed to surpass Messi. In the 38th minute, the Brazilian set up Ferran Torres with a header, following a pass from Pedri, to make it 2-2. In doing so, he surpassed the Argentine star and now has 12 goals and eight assists in 13 appearances in this season’s Champions League, meaning he has been involved in 20 of the 40 goals scored by Hansi Flick’s side (50%).
Another statistic that makes Raphinha’s season outstanding and brings him closer to the Ballon d’Or is his involvement in FC Barcelona’s goals. The Brazilian has been involved in 55 goals for Barça this season. With his goal against Real Valladolid, he reached 31 goals and 24 assists in 51 games this season (4,162 minutes). In La Liga, he has scored 16 goals, in addition to 12 in the Champions League (Pichichi) and one in the Copa del Rey. He also scored two goals in the Spanish Super Cup.
Furthermore, the Barça number 11 has already scored as many goals this season (2024-25) as he did in his previous three seasons with Barça and Leeds. These figures seem crazy, but the Barça player still has one more challenge he wants to overcome this season. Raphinha still has a chance to equal the record for goals scored by a Brazilian player in European football. The record is held by Neymar, who ended the 2014/15 season with 39 goals and 10 assists.