Barcelona ‘relieved’ after star man exits World Cup | OneFootball

Norway sprang perhaps the surprise of the knockout stages on Sunday, taking down Brazil in emphatic fashion, courtesy of a brace from Erling Haaland. Naturally a number of potential opponents perhaps celebrated Brazil’s exit, while the celebrations in Norway will go down in history. In Barcelona too, there were those were pleased with the exit of the Selecao.

Barcelona had just one player involved in the match, but Raphinha did not make it off the bench. Their star forward has been injured since their second game after suffering a hamstring problem, but Carlo Ancelotti had revealed that he could feature off the bench. As it was, Raphinha finished the game comforting Neymar Junior, who went on ahead of him.

Barcelona relieved at Raphinha return

While naturally, Barcelona would wish success for their players, their information was that Raphinha was not fully recovered. The Norway game took place just 15 days after his injury, and in normal circumstances, he had two more weeks before he would have returned to action, hence any game time would have been a major risk, say Diario AS. They reveal a certain relief within Can Barca that Ancelotti did not risk him. He now has three weeks before he is due back in preseason with Barcelona, at which point he should be fully recovered.

Barcelona aiming for fit Raphinha next season

As pointed out by Marca, Raphinha has finished the season missing a total of 26 games through injury. The 29-year-old was in and out of the Barcelona team all season with injuries, suffering multiple hamstring problems throughout, which continued into the World Cup. Barcelona will be desperate to get one of their best players back to full fitness, having sorely missed his impact on the pitch, both in terms of what he brings to their game, and his leadership.