There are no bulls in Barcelona but the clamorous olés sounded in the Olímpic, a stadium with a large door, the place where last night a Brazilian named Raphinha would have had to go out on the shoulders, whose exhibition was enormous, parallel to that of Vinícius 24 hours before in Madrid. They are mentioned on Saturday, as a cherry on top of the most attractive classic since the Messi-Ronaldo era.
Raphinha came out with the captain’s armband, a democratic choice of the squad that says a lot about who the mature players in the locker room are. Third season at Barça but the first in peaceful conditions, especially when it became clear that the signing of Nico Williams was a summer snake – it goes by the classic slang –, a smokescreen that undoubtedly must have been distasteful.
Raphinha is no longer one more in this Barça after suffering two seasons and enduring the passion for Williams
The Brazilian’s game sustained the team because even in the halftime it didn’t seem like a doomed match. Three goals, superb gallop in the fourth, similar, curiously, to the one that could win the Ballon d’Or for Vinícius, whom Raphinha surpasses in contribution to the collective game, maturity and positioning.
The derangement of the last two seasons explains why Raphinha has taken so long to be recognized and, above all, valued. Anxiety got the best of him, but in the face of Dembélé’s apathy, Raphinha reacted with a dedication that was as effortful as it was futile. It wasn’t the same. And, finally, Raphinha has exploded. He is no longer just another one on this team…
The classic looks good. Very good. For the football spectacle, this is. It is such a special game that there is even room for ordinariness and disappointment between expectations and reality. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona arrive strong but also with disturbing phases, in which both were at the mercy of the Germans. It will all be that the coaches want to spoil the party… The reason for the fan’s optimism is the two best forwards in the world today. Rodrygo will not be there but Vinícius and Raphinha are there and are there, who have earned their stripes this week.
Raphinha’s explosion led Barça’s return to Europe, now. It’s serious. Against Bayern, more accustomed to humiliating than leaving with a carrycot. Even the refereeing was typical of that which distinguishes the greats. The good referee, the Slovenian Vincic, assisted in the VAR by the even better Kwiatkowski, a Pole, decided that Fermín had not committed a foul on Min-Jae, an infringement that existed, at a decisive moment in the match. Come on, the ones that suffocate the other way around. Let’s say no more: on Saturday the world (of entertainment) stops.
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