Barcelona star Raphinha edged closer to some rather elite company, in finding the net against Athletic Club on Sunday evening.
For those who may have missed it, wide-man Raphinha proved himself match-winner for Barca a short time ago.
After making the trip to San Mames for a La Liga showdown with the aforementioned Athletic, a chaotic affair ultimately culminated in Xavi Hernandez’s troops emerging on the right side of a 1-0 scoreline.
That man Raphinha, meanwhile, proved difference-maker, in latching onto a fine pass by way of Sergio Busquets to lash home the evening’s winner on the stroke of the interval:
Raphinha strikes first! 👏🇧🇷
There was a VAR check, but the goal was given and Barcelona are 1-0 up at the break thanks to the Brazilian 🎯#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/l1ARXDvY3Z
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 12, 2023
And, as alluded to above, such efforts on the part of the Brazilian international have since given rise to an altogether head-turning statistic.
Raphinha, of course, has often come in for criticism across the season to date, having largely failed to hit the heights expected of him since swapping England for Spain last summer.
In fact, as revealed by statisticians Opta, in the entirety of La Liga, only star Real Madrid pair Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr. have been directly involved in more goals in all competitions than Raphinha in 2023.
12 – Only Karim Benzema (14) and Vinícius Jr (13) have been involved in more goals among @LaLigaEn players in all competitions in 2023 than @FCBarcelona‘s Raphina (7 goals, 5 assists). Decisive. pic.twitter.com/OoK9IGYqU8
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 12, 2023
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