Raphinha could not have asked for a better Barcelona debut. The Brazilian had a goal and an assist in Barcelona’s preseason friendly win over Inter Miami.
Raphinha playing volleyball 🏐 pic.twitter.com/0NbSW0ydbt
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 20, 2022
As part of their tour of the United States, the Catalans’ next match is ‘El Clasico’ against Real Madrid. Perhaps riding a bit high after the 6-0 win, Raphinha made a statement that won’t go down well in Madrid.
“One always tries to score against anyone, but if it’s in a Derby, even more. The most important thing is the win. But for me we’re better than Real Madrid”, Raphinha said.
On its face, his comments aren’t exactly going to be bulletin board material for Carlo Ancelotti but it is sure to add extra flavor to the highly anticipated match.
The last time these two sides faced off against one another was in LaLiga at the Santiago Bernabeu. Barcelona ran roughshod over Los Blancos in a 4-0 win.
Real Madrid are going to be a tougher test for Xavi Hernandez’s team but it looks like it’s a challenge Raphinha is looking forward to.
The former Leeds United player became the newest player to join the club a couple of weeks ago for a fixed fee of €58 million. Chelsea were heavily interested in him and had a deal in place with Leeds. But Raphinha was set on joining Barcelona and waited for the Catalan side to get their affairs in order.
Raphinha will certainly be a player Xavi relies on heavily throughout the season. Competition is good to have and Raphinha will have to compete with the likes of Ousmane Dembele for the starting spot. So far so good after the first preseason game.