Everyone wanted Nico Williams. Having showed the world just how exciting he could be with Lamine Yamal in tandem at the Euros, Williams was the talk of the town... especially in the town of Barcelona. Whispers in the boardroom were amplified by fans and influencers who couldn't get enough of the rumours. One fan even posted an image on Instagram of a Barca shirt, no.11, with Williams Jr. emblazoned on its back. This might not have meant much back in the day, but in the modern football world, footballers and fans are connected with each other digitally like they never have been before. Which meant the current incumbent of the #11 stumbled onto the post and responded with multiple laughing emojis (26 of them, to be exact).
You see everyone may have wanted Nico Williams, but Raphinha Dias Belloli was having absolutely none of it. Raphinha had walked into a crisis-ridden Barcelona outfit in 2022 and done rather decently. He scored a few goals (20 across the first two seasons) and put in good performances, but an injury in the latter half of the last season and the emergence of Yamal meant he went completely under the radar. With the Barca suits having taken plenty of knee-jerk transfer decisions in favour of the latest sensation, it would have been understandable if Raphinha felt his time at the club was up. But what he did was hire a personal coach over the summer, work on his weaknesses and lean into whatever new coach Hansi Flick wanted of him.
That saw his season start well, but it all came together with a bang in the fourth match this Saturday, against Real Valladolid. Starting on the left now that Yamal has made the right his home and new signing Dani Olmo fits in in the middle, Raphinha ran the show.
He started the scoring in the 20th minute when he drifted inside, and ahead of Robert Lewandowski, to race onto a superb Pau Cubarsi long ball from the back. Running clear, he held off Luis Perez and toe-poked it brilliantly past Karl Hein in goal. Often criticized for his decision making when in front of goal, this was a clinical finish. A decoy run from him then distracted the Valladolid defence and allowed Lewandowski to steal inside to make it two four minutes later.
In the second half, he made it 4-0 with a tap-in after Yamal and Lewandowski combined to create chaos inside the Valladolid box... Raphinha keeping out of the way but poaching the rebound after a bit of pinball. He made it three for himself, and five for Barca, when he timed his run down the inside left brilliantly, was picked out equally well by Yamal, and finished with a cool nutmeg of Hein. A first career hattrick for the Brazilian but he wasn't done yet. In the 85th minute, he ripped past Eray Cormet before sending in a low, hard cross that was duly turned in by Ferran Torres at the near post.
Barcelona 7 - 0 Real Valladolid and Raphinha was serenaded off the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium pitch after three goals and an assist. No one in blue-and-red wants anyone else on the left wing now. Least of all coach Flick, who said after the match, "I've watched [Raphinha] play many times and it doesn't surprise me. He's taken a while to score a hat trick, but he's got the quality to do it. He's had a great performance. Raphinha works very hard to create space for others. He does many things well, he's one of the players who've done really well in all four matches."
Asked to remain high and wide under Xavi's rigid system, Raphinha has been given license to roam in from the left, interchange with Olmo and Yamal and Lewandowski... and it's already allowing him to touch his full potential. This match was exhibit A in support of that.
For silencing his doubters and scoring a remarkable hattrick as he establishes himself as Barcelona's #11, Raphinha takes our Moment of the Weekend