In an interview given to El Pais on the sidelines of the derby against Espanyol (this Sunday at 4:15 p.m.), the Brazilian Raphinha spoke about the management of his playing time under the mandate of Xavi, his previous coach. Without wanting to argue.
Barça, now led by German technician Hansi Flick, has had an almost perfect start to the season. After 11 days, the Catalan club sits at the top of the Spanish championship with a six-point lead over its Madrid rival, the defending champion, who was scattered (4-0) during the Clasico. In the Champions League, a first hiccup against Monaco (1-2) was quickly forgotten against the Young Boys of Bern (5-0) and especially Bayern Munich (4-1).
Not always at ease with Xavi, Robert Lewandowski, author of a double against Real Madrid, has regained his splendor with the man who was his coach at Bayern Munich. The observation also applies to the Brazilian Raphinha, revelation of this new-look Barça.
The Auriverde international started this season under the best auspices, under the orders of a coach who seems to have given him confidence. “I started this season with a different state of mind,” he admitted at the end of October, before shining with a hat-trick against Bayern Munich.
Raphinha gets her revenge
“Confidence is not only important in football, it is also important in life,” he confided in a long interview with El Pais. “If you don’t have the confidence to do do your best in your work, it’s hard to make things work out. And, when you don’t have it, you often forget even what you know how to do.”
Raphinha ended up losing this confidence with Xavi, by not playing for more than an hour or only appearing for parts of a match (with Xavi, he only finished 7 of the 60 matches played, according to El Pais). “That’s more complicated. I laugh, because it’s happened to me often. It’s not a criticism of Xavi. Subconsciously, I knew I was going to have to go out. I tried to do everything in 60 minutes and nothing came out and other times, when it came out, I still came out. I talked to him about it, but it’s the coach’s decisions.
Indisputable owner of his new coach, Raphinha is having, by his own admission, the best season of his career so far. A sparkling form that he could put to good use during the derby against Espanyol (4:15 p.m.) to consolidate Barça’s position at the top of La Liga.
