{"id":859253,"date":"2026-09-24T18:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/859253\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T18:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:26:12","slug":"raphinha-in-my-head-i-was-leaving-barca-but-a-few-small-words-can-change-you-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/859253\/","title":{"rendered":"Raphinha: \u2018In my head I was leaving Bar\u00e7a, but a few small words can change you\u2019 | Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"

For once, Raphael Dias Belloli puts the brakes on. The man who seems to be in perpetual motion, a footballer forever on fast forward, pauses, goes quiet for a moment and then, softly, utters something that says so much: \u201cI think maybe people saw in me something I didn\u2019t realise was there.\u201d He did not know he was a leader, but he likes it. He did not know he was a captain, but according to his manager he is the \u201cperfect captain\u201d. And he did not know he was a No 9 either, but right now he is the best No 9 there is. In Barcelona<\/a> or anywhere.<\/p>\n

There was a time when Raphinha did not know whether he would be in Barcelona, when, feeling unwanted, he had accepted it was over, but this week he extended his contract to 2030. He will be 33 then: he would like to retire here and they would like him to retire here, too, a legend built on empathy and affection. \u201cThis is the best decision the club has made,\u201d said Hansi Flick, the head coach Raphinha says changed his life. Sometimes you cannot get what you want so you have to settle for the best.<\/p>\n

The first word Raphinha uses when training has finished and the tape starts rolling at Sant Joan Desp\u00ed, when he is addressed as the world\u2019s top No 9, is \u201cfalse\u201d. It comes with a smile; turns out there is nothing false about this 9. Seven games into the league season, the man filling in at centre-forward has scored 12 goals, plus two in the Champions League. The scorers leading the way in Europe\u2019s other top leagues are five behind. No one in Barcelona\u2019s history has started a season like this. And, no, Raphinha says, he has never played there before: \u201cEven as a kid I wasn\u2019t a 9.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if it is even about the goals. There may be no one as enjoyable to watch as Raphinha; no one as admirable or important either. The touch at speed is astonishing and there is a wild intensity about everything he does, only it is not wild, he says; it is worked upon, the entire system depending on him. The press defines Barcelona\u2019s identity and it is, Raphinha says, \u201cmechanised\u201d. No, he is not going to reveal how but it begins with him. \u201cAs captain, he goes and everyone follows,\u201d Flick says. \u201cWe always start with the No 9 and he has that incredible hunger and intensity, the mentality and attitude we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet this is not what Raphinha or anyone expected. This summer Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford departed, having contributed 38 league goals between them last season. They were supposed to be replaced by Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez but Atl\u00e9tico Madrid refused to sell<\/a>, leaving Barcelona with no striker. \u201cThere was a moment of need,\u201d Raphinha says. \u201cThere was no No 9 for the [friendly] against Basel, so I played there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RaphinhaRaphinha backs Lamine Yamal to win Ballon d\u2019Or \u2013 video<\/p>\n

It was not supposed to be permanent, although Flick suspected it might be and was warming to the idea: Barcelona had not given up on \u00c1lvarez yet and the coach considered other solutions, including Anthony Gordon. This was better. Raphinha did not score but Bar\u00e7a got five.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn pre-season we did a few tests: the manager liked what he saw and after Basel he told me a bit about his idea,\u201d Raphinha says. \u201cThe adaptation came over the last two years, getting used to coming inside, closer to goal. But we tested [me as] an actual No 9 and it went well. There\u2019s the occasional detail that has to be explained, but I\u2019m OK. Before Elche [on the opening day], he asked if I was comfortable there or wanted to go back to my position. I said it was fine, see how it goes, we can always change back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raphinha scored two against Elche, one against Athletic, two against Rayo and another at Valencia<\/a>. Against Racing there was a hat-trick<\/a> and another against Sevilla: right foot, left foot, header. Raphinha showed his old qualities and new, less expected ones: the movement, timing and clinical finishing of a classic No 9, efficiency to go with the intensity. Only one La Liga player has a better shot conversion rate. Against Feyenoord came two more.<\/p>\n

Raphinha (right) is joined by Lamine Yamal \u2013 the player he says he is a \u2018big brother to\u2019 \u2013 after scoring during the Champions League match against Feyenoord. Photograph: Judit Cartiel\/Uefa\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nor is it just about him. The point of Raphinha is that it is not even about him. Only once this season has he not scored, and against Levante he created the first two, then handed over the penalty for Lamine Yamal to add the third. Barcelona have scored five, two, five, five, five, four, seven and three, respectively in winning their first eight games.<\/p>\n

Flick had done it again. \u201cI always have and always will say that he changed my mentality, changed me as a person,\u201d Raphinha says.<\/p>\n

By 2024, Raphinha was convinced he had no future at Barcelona. His numbers were good: 10 goals and 12 assists in his first season, 10 goals and 13 assists in his second. But Lamine Yamal was emerging<\/a> and, more importantly, Raphinha did not feel backed, completing 90 minutes seven times in 60 games under Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez. It had not escaped his attention that Barcelona thought about selling him; it had not escaped anyone\u2019s attention that they wanted to buy Nico Williams, publicly keen to reunite the pair that tore up the Euros<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barcelona failed twice<\/a>, and were all the better for it. A Photoshopped image of Williams in his No 11 shirt on social media hurt<\/a>, Raphinha admitted. But Flick had arrived and if there is something even more powerful than the desire to prove people wrong, it is the desire to prove people right.<\/p>\n

Raphinha fires in his team\u2019s fourth goal in the 5-2 win against Rayo Vallecano. Photograph: David Ramos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my head, I knew I was leaving,\u201d Raphinha says. \u201cThat was [mentally] done, that\u2019s the truth. I was in Brazil and Flick called. He said come talk to him before taking a final decision. I met him and he said he trusted in me, that I was going to be important, that the team[\u2019s play] would be good for me. In a moment like that, a few small words can change you. I felt a lot of faith in me. He gave me the confidence to play my football. I got an idea into my head: give everything, your life, regardless of the personal moment you\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love won out, even if Raphinha is swift to add: \u201cIf you get results people are going to love you; if not, they\u2019re not.\u201d Feeling supported and valued changed everything. His success is a human story, his qualities human ones. He led Barcelona to the league<\/a>. Flying in from the left, Raphinha scored 34 goals and provided 26 assists in 57 games. Another title<\/a> followed in 2025-26 and although injuries reduced his contribution, there were 21 goals and eight assists in 33, Flick\u2019s faith gratefully repaid.<\/p>\n

His teammates\u2019 faith, too. The dressing room had voted Raphinha as a club captain, third in line. He had not expected it and was genuinely touched. There was something in that moment, in the realisation of how they felt about him, how much they believed in him, that was transformative. Now Flick has named him his first choice.<\/p>\n

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A jubilant Raphinha with the trophy after winning the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid. Photograph: NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

That moment brings pause, thought. \u201cWhen I saw people had voted for me, it was like a switch had been flipped, a shift in mindset,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople could see something in me I didn\u2019t realise was there, and that\u2019s changed me. Before being captain, I didn\u2019t know how much I would like it. Having that responsibility has also changed my mentality, helped me. I never thought I\u2019d like being Barcelona captain so much. You feel you matter. It\u2019s an honour. It\u2019s not just wearing the armband.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is a natural, as pure a captain as there has been since Carles Puyol \u2013 even if he did need to be told. It is there in the relentless example he sets: Raphinha has sprinted the second-furthest distance in La Liga and Gradient Sports<\/a> has measured only three players with more final-third pressures per 30 minutes out of possession. Raphinha says: \u201cI talk less than most captains but I know people are watching. They think: \u2018If this guy\u2019s running like an animal, I have to follow.\u2019. If you talk too much and then don\u2019t do what you have to, people aren\u2019t going to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet what teammates saw in him went deeper, to his very being. Leadership is there in the empathy, kindness and understanding too, in Raphinha returning the support that was good for him, an approach at once collective and individual. He says he can see when Lamine Yamal is drifting from games and how to reconnect him, every celebration shared with the teenager. A clip went round recently in which he quietly tells Gordon not to be afraid. And no clip was more powerful, more eloquent, than the moment when Flick sat on the bench, alone, lost in his thoughts and Raphinha consoled him<\/a>, drawing him out of his dark place, roles reversed.<\/p>\n

Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez, Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Anthony Gordon celebrate their team\u2019s third goal against Valencia. Photograph: David Ramos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coach-player relationship is the most important in football,\u201d Raphinha says. \u201cFrom the moment [Flick] arrived, we could talk to him about anything \u2013 and anything is anything. That time, I saw him, head down. At first, I didn\u2019t really understand why. I asked what was wrong. He said he felt the team wasn\u2019t playing well. From what I remember, I told him it was OK, we\u2019d won and we would play well again. I prefer a thousand times to win playing badly than lose playing well. Win games, confidence and the football comes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of leader [I am] depends on the moment. If I have to be slightly tougher, I can. But I prefer nicer moments, jokes. The last two years have been spectacular so I haven\u2019t had to be the pesado [pain in the arse] often. I know that annoys people but someone has to do it sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a squad like this, especially? Four of Barcelona\u2019s first team were born in 2007. \u201cBuah!\u201d Raphinha says, laughing. \u201cThat hurts: it shows I\u2019m closer to the end than starting out at 18, 19, like them. But I\u2019m in spectacular physical shape so [retirement] is some way off. It\u2019s very easy with them. There are young players but they\u2019re very responsible about their career, their lives. Once in a while, you have to [be paternal] because they\u2019re kids. But they understand. If they get told off, they know it\u2019s for their own good. I\u2019ll tell them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raphinha, pictured at the Barcelona training complex, is thriving in the role of captain. Photograph: Pablo Garcia\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Is there something of the father figure in him with Lamine Yamal in particular? \u201cNo, no,\u201d Raphinha jumps in. \u201cBig brother, that\u2019s better.\u201d And Lamine Yamal is the star who should win the Ballon d\u2019Or, he says: for his \u201cindividual numbers, collective titles, and the magic on the pitch, charisma. There\u2019s no doubt. For me, he has to take the prize, no matter what. Even if I wasn\u2019t Lamine\u2019s teammate, for what he does, the numbers, the titles \u2013 and I think titles are important \u2013 he\u2019s the candidate. One of one. Of three trophies, he won two with Barcelona. He won the World Cup with Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only the Champions League escaped them; for two years Barcelona have come close, and it is their obsession now. \u201cThe semi-final against Inter<\/a> [in 2025] hurt the most,\u201d Raphinha says. \u201cAgainst Atl\u00e9tico<\/a> [in the quarter-final in 2026] we could have gone through, we could talk about things that could have gone differently, decisions. But against Inter, we had one foot in the final and to lose that way was hard. We\u2019re a young team \u2013 that\u2019s not an excuse \u2013 and sometimes you lack the maturity to manage key moments. This season we\u2019re more mature, better prepared. If we carry on like this, with this mentality, we can compete for it all. We have everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting from the front with the captain, the leader and the No 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For once, Raphael Dias Belloli puts the brakes on. The man who seems to be in perpetual motion,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-859253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}