One Barcelona player is now putting up Lionel Messi-esque stats in the Champions League | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have been setting records left, right, and center since Hansi Flick took over as the head coach back in the summer. The German coach’s tactical setup is bringing the best out of the players at the club.

The Catalan club has been scoring goals for fun both in La Liga and the Champions League. They are the top scorers in both competitions and much of it has to do with the contribution of the attackers – Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski.

Raphinha in particular has turned the situation around at Barcelona. After a couple of seasons where he struggled to establish himself, the Brazilian has emerged as one of the best players in Europe so far this season, chipping in with both goals and assists.

As per stats revealed by La Pausa via X, one Barcelona player is putting up Lionel Messi-esque statistics in the Champions League so far this year. Raphinha is outperforming the best years of the Argentinian legend in the continental competition.

The Brazilian winger leads all Barcelona players in goals and assists per 90 minutes in the Champions League over a calendar year, provided they have played more than 500 minutes.

Raphinha is currently averaging 1.73 goals and assists per 90 minutes—outperforming Messi’s top averages of 1.67 (2016), 1.56 (2008), 1.51 (2018), and 1.50 (2012) during his prime years with the club.

The Brazilian winger has played 571 minutes across 8 Champions League appearances this year, already boasting 11 goal contributions (8 goals and 3 assists), averaging 1.73 goal contributions per 90 minutes.

Notably, he still has the opportunity to play in 2 more games before the year ends, with Barcelona set to face Brest on November 26 and Borussia Dortmund on December 11. It will be interesting to see if he can add to his already impressive tally and further improve his average in these upcoming games.

The 27-year-old has already surpassed his numbers from his previous couple of seasons. Raphinha is in one of the best moments of his career. He looks unstoppable at the moment and his chance creation is at an all-time high.

Hansi Flick will be hoping that Raphinha can continue in a similar trajectory and keep helping the team out both in attack and defense. He will be crucial to Barcelona’s season and let’s wait and see how it plays out going forward.