The reconversion of Raphinha
The attacker, called up with Brazil, admits that he is surprised by his successful adaptation to the center forward position
BarcelonaHe had not trained as a centre-forward, but before the friendly against Basel, on August 16, Hansi Flick told Raphinha that he would play for a while as a centre-forward. Barça had not yet completely thrown in the towel on signing Julián Álvarez, Gabriel Jesus was only, at that time, a remote opportunity and Hamza Abdelkarim was the sensation of the preseason in the attack. Before the friendly against the Swiss, however, the German told Raphinha that he would play "first as a nine and then as a winger". This is how the footballer explained it in a recent interview with RAC1.
Before the start of the League, on August 23 in Elche, the Brazilian had indeed already accumulated a few training sessions as a centre-forward, while Anthony Gordon was in charge of filling the void he himself left on the left. "The coach asked me if I was okay like that, that if I was not comfortable, he would swap me with Gordon and I would go back to playing on the left. I told him let's try it and it went well": Barça thrashed Elche 0-5 with two goals and an assist from the former Leeds player. Raphinha has not moved from the position of nine since and is smashing records: fourteen goals in eight matches, twelve in the League and two more against Feyenoord, in the Champions League.
"I am not surprised by my performance, but I am by playing from now. Maybe in some specific match I had played as a center forward throughout my career, but so continuously, never. I didn't imagine I would be so comfortable", assesses, also joking, the Brazilian, in the interview. "Playing with your back to the center-backs is complicated. You take a few hits. I didn't think I would adapt so well to the position and, what I try most is not to play with my back to the goal", he explains. "I've had to adapt. If I wanted to play in my original position, right winger, I wouldn't play", he jokes. The right lane of the attack has a master and lord: Lamine Yamal. "It seems I'm a better forward than a winger and I didn't know it".
His performance has turned Raphinha into the most lethal forward in all of Europe. The Brazil international, who plays a friendly against Australia this Friday (12 PM), has produced 15 goals in Barcelona's first seven matches in La Liga (twelve goals, three assists), a record that in the 21st century only Karim Benzema has matched. The French striker, who at 38 is finishing his career at the Saudi club Al Hilal, achieved this in the first seven matches of the 2021-22 season, according to data from Opta provided to ARA. If we look only at the goals, in the first seven matchdays of La Liga, the Brazilian has scored twelve, a figure that only Cristiano Ronaldo has surpassed in the 21st century, with thirteen goals in seven matches in the 2014-15 season with Real Madrid. Messi, in his best start (2017-18), scored eleven in seven matchdays.
In his best complete season (2024-25), his first under Flick's orders, Raphinha scored 34 goals in 57 matches across all competitions, an average of 0.60 goals per game. Now he is scoring almost triple that per duel. The Brazilian finds the back of the net every 45 minutes, with an average of 1.71 goals per match. Furthermore, Raphinha has scored two hat tricks in a row (against Racing de Santander and Sevilla). In the 21st century, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have also achieved this, on three occasions each; Luis Suárez (Barça) on two occasions, and Gonzalo Higuaín (Madrid).
The Raphinha-Lamine Yamal partnership
Raphinha has not only managed to readapt to cede the right flank to Lamine Yamal, but the two of them form one of the best partnerships in current European football. Against Sevilla, in Barça's last match before the international break, Lamine Yamal reached 51 assists as a Blaugrana in all competitions. According to Opta data, Raphinha is the teammate to whom he has provided the most goal passes: eleven. Both are crucial to Hansi Flick's exuberant Barça.
In fact, this is the fourth time that Barcelona has started a La Liga season with seven wins in their first seven games, after doing so in the 2013-14, 2017-18, and 2024-25 campaigns. The German coach is the first manager to achieve this with the Blaugrana on two occasions (2024-25 and 2026-27). Only one team in the entire history of La Liga had scored more goals than the current Barça (31) after their first seven matches in the competition: Sevilla, in the 1940-41 campaign (40 goals).
There could have been even more goals under the German's command. Since Flick's arrival, Barça has hit the woodwork 64 times in La Liga, sixteen times more than any other team in the five major European leagues, followed by Bayern Munich in the same period of time (48 shots against the woodwork). Raphinha and Lamine Yamal are the two players who have hit the post the most: twelve times each during this period. Raphinha might even become Brazil's center-forward now. For the moment, the Barcelona faithful are praying that he does not return injured as on the last few occasions.