Superlatives are starting to run out to describe what Raphinha is doing for Barcelona this season.
The Brazilian winger fueled Barcelona's outstanding 4–3 comeback victory against Celta Vigo over the weekend with an assist and a brace. His second goal of the day was a 98th-minute game-winning penalty kick dispatched with authority.
Through 48 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona this season, Raphinha has 30 goals and 21 assists. Thanks to his performance over the weekend, the Brazilian eclipsed the 50 G+A mark for the season, a feat that no Barcelona player had achieved since Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Luis Suárez all did it in the 2015–16 season in the peak of the "MSN" era.
If Raphinha manages to secure three more goal contributions in what remains of the campaign, he'll overtake Neymar's 53 G+A benchmark from 2015–16 to own the record of most goal involvements in a single season by a Brazilian player in Europe's top five leagues ever.
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is the only other player across Europe's top five leagues to reach the 50 goal contributions this term (55).
JOIN SI SOCCER'S BARCELONA WHATSAPP COMMUNITY - GET ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND ANALYSIS STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE
Raphinha's late penalty over Celta saw him reach 50 career goals for Barcelona. The former Leeds United player scored 10 goals with the Catalans in both of his first two seasons after arriving from the Premier League. Hansi Flick's appointment revitalized the wingers' career, tripling his goal tally from the past two campaigns in 2024–25.
The Champions League has been the Brazilian's favorite competition. Raphinha has shined under the lights of European soccer's biggest tournament, where his 19 goal involvements toequal Lionel Messi for the best single season tally in Barça's history. He currently is the assists leader in the competition (7) and is one goal behind Serhou Guirassy in the golden boot race (12).
Raphinha will look to continue his brilliant season and help Barcelona make their dreams of a treble-winning campaign a reality. With news that Robert Lewandowski will be sidelined with a hamstring injury in upcoming pivotal matches, Barcelona need Raphinha to continue delivering in front of goal more than ever.
If the Brazilian keeps up his 2024–25 form until the end of the season and Barcelona go on to achieve La Liga and Champions League glory, it'll be hard for anyone to deny Raphinha his first Ballon d'Or award come October.
READ THE LATEST BARCELONA NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Raphinha Becomes First Barcelona Player Since Messi, Neymar and Suarez to Achieve Remarkable Feat.
