Raphinha has been considered one of Barcelona’s most explosive performers underneath Hansi Flick, and Neymar has repeatedly voiced his admiration for the winger’s rise. But, as the brand new Champions League matchday arrives, the highlight has unexpectedly shifted from the pitch to the microphone. The Brazilian ahead delivered a blistering rant after ending outdoors the highest three within the Ballon d’Or standings — a response that Neymar, who has defended him publicly, would absolutely nod alongside to.
Throughout the 2024-25 season, Raphinha reached a degree of consistency that few in world soccer may match. His 34 targets and 22 assists got here as Barcelona swept La Liga, the Spanish Tremendous Cup, and the Copa del Rey, together with his Champions League marketing campaign breaking long-standing information. However because the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris unfolded, it turned more and more clear that the voting panel had seen issues very in a different way.
The award in the end went to Ousmane Dembele after his decisive Champions League run with Paris Saint-Germain. Lamine Yamal claimed second, Vitinha third, and Mohamed Salah fourth. Raphinha, regardless of being statistically one of the vital productive gamers wherever in Europe, resulted in fifth.
Neymar reacted immediately. Replying to an Instagram publish breaking down the ultimate outcomes, he wrote on social media: “Raphinha in fifth is an excessive amount of of a joke.” His outrage mirrored the sentiment amongst many Brazilian followers who had watched Raphinha dominate Europe. Within the Champions League alone, the Barcelona winger produced 12 targets and eight assists, surpassing Lionel Messi’s iconic tally from the 2011-12 season. It was the type of efficiency that usually pushes gamers into Ballon d’Or rivalry — not away from it.
Much more astonishing was the information leaked afterward by L’Equipe: Not a single journalist from wherever on this planet gave Raphinha a first-place vote. Not one. The numbers had been staggering: Dembele (73 first-place votes), Yamal (11), Vitinha (6), Salah (4). Raphinha (0). Even the Brazilian journalist on the worldwide voting panel positioned him solely second.
What did Raphinha say?
Now, Raphinha has addressed the problem straight earlier than Barcelona’s Champions League conflict with Chelsea. Calm, composed, however visibly unhappy, he laid naked what the award meant to him. “I deserved rather more, however these are particular person awards, and collectively we missed the Champions League — that’s what we wish.”
There it was — the 4 phrases he had averted saying till now: ‘I deserved rather more.‘ Not shouted. Not weaponized. Simply delivered with the conviction of a participant who is aware of precisely what he produced over the previous 12 months.
He expanded on it additional, emphasizing that the result was past his management: “These aren’t issues I management. Individuals, journalists… I solely management what occurs on the pitch.” When requested why he wasn’t ranked larger, he pushed the query again on the media: “You’re those who ought to clarify that.”
Regardless of the sting, the 28-year-old Brazilian refuses to let the Ballon d’Or consequence derail him. Final season’s whole — 57 video games, 34 targets, 26 assists — speaks for itself. He was named within the Champions League Crew of the Season, topped La Liga Participant of the 12 months, and carried Barcelona by means of defining moments.
