Barcelona president Joan Laporta makes feelings clear on Raphinha injury after Brazil scare | OneFootball

Although club football in Europe is currently paused because of the September international break, today was still quite an eventful day for FC Barcelona. Several of their players, including Lamine Yamal, Hamza Abdelkarim, Anthony Gordon, and Raphinha, impressed and scored with their respective national teams.

However, not everything was good for the Catalans. One concern arose for the club as Raphinha was substituted out at half-time from the game between Brazil and Australia, as he reportedly suffered from muscle pain, and results of detailed tests on him are currently awaited.

Meanwhile, another important development took place away from the pitch, as Joan Laporta attended the 33rd European Football Clubs Assembly held in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was the first time Barcelona attended this assembly since the club’s exit a few years ago, when they were looking to create the European Super League.

While attending this event, Laporta also talked to Mundo Deportivo. Among other things, he addressed his concerns with long international breaks, and particularly with the injury suffered by Raphinha. In this regard, the Blaugrana president said:

“Yes, beyond the fact that we compete passionately on the pitch, we have a common motivation, which is to improve the competitions together in some way, improve the financial health of our clubs, give opportunities to young talent and, of course, protect our players. And there is now concern about these international breaks, which are almost like a pre-season.

There is some concern about international football because it is very easy for injuries to occur, as has unfortunately been the case. At Barça, it seems we have already suffered a minor injury to Eric García, and I have heard that they had to take Raphinha off for Brazil because he felt some discomfort. We will see the extent of this injury.”

Laporta highlighted that other clubs, including Real Madrid, are also suffering from this:

“Yes, the same thing has happened to Real Madrid with Mbappé. I don’t know exactly how serious the injury is, and hopefully it is nothing serious.”

“Well, in that regard, I don’t have any more information than what has appeared in the media. We all think about it at certain moments, but the truth is that we want the players to be actively involved with our clubs and ready to play for us. We know they have to go away with their national teams; we respect that obligation, but we train and prepare them to play for our clubs.”