‘I can assume that responsibility‘ — Barcelona star takes blame for dual injury relapses before comeback | OneFootball

FC Barcelona beat Athletic Club 4–0 in La Liga last weekend at the Spotify Camp Nou, and one of the biggest talking points was the return of Joan Garcia and Raphinha, who had been sidelined for a couple of months through injury.

Raphinha’s recovery took much longer than expected, and he was initially expected to be back for El Clásico. However, a setback in training pushed the date back amid concerns about a potential relapse for the Brazilian.

Speaking to the media ahead of the Champions League encounter against Chelsea, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo, the Brazilian winger made a shock revelation that he had two relapses in his recovery process and that both were his fault. He said:

“There may have been mistakes, but the truth is that I had two relapses of my injury. The first was partly my fault, and I think the second one too. I can assume that responsibility because, in the end, I do things, and if I think they won’t help me, I would be the first to say no. I take responsibility for the two relapses because I wanted to be on the pitch as soon as possible to help the team. I made a few mistakes, and that’s why I had those two relapses.”

This comes as an unpleasant surprise and helps explain why it took so long for Raphinha to return. The Brazilian’s over-enthusiasm to help the team got the better of him and saw him return to training twice before he was ready.

Of course, much depends on how the player feels, but responsibility also lies with Barcelona’s medical team for allowing him to try before he was actually ready. Relapses happen, but letting it happen twice is not ideal.

In hindsight, it only ensured that Barcelona were without Raphinha’s services for far longer than expected. In the future, the Catalan club should be careful not to allow this to happen again, and let us hope the Brazilian has fully recovered and does not face any setbacks.