Raphinha's revenge brings Barcelona to gut Getafe

Barcelona 4-0 Getafe - La Liga

Barcelona beat the brakes off Getafe at the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic to insist upon themselves as genuine title contenders for La Liga.

The win was Barcelona’s biggest since September’s back-to-back 5-0’s and moved them to within five points of Real Madrid (albeit having played a game more). The satisfaction after such an emphatic win would have been doubly felt as Getafe kicked, elbowed and scrapped their way to a 0-0 draw in the first game of the season. But while Barcelona got their own back in general, it was an afternoon of redemption and revenge for one man in particular.

“Do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold?” — Khan Noonien Singh

A miserable season so far

Raphinha came into 2023/24 as Barcelona’s starting winger. He inherited the no. 11 shirt and looked ready to build on a promising but inconsistent debut season.

He started the Getafe game well enough, making good runs, having good shots (though he should have scored). All was well until he foolishly got himself sent off for responding to getting elbowed by throwing an elbow of his own.

A red card promptly came out and, honestly, the Brazilian’s season has never really found a proper rhythm ever since then.

During his two game ban, Lamine Yamal showed us that despite being 16 years-old he was more than ready to rock at the top level. So much so that Raphinha’s return saw him as a sub. He played his part in those two big 5-0 wins, and then was a useful sub in the 3-2 comeback against Celta. He got a goal and assist away to Mallorca but also missed an absolute sitter, then in his next game he injured his hamstring.

Another four games missed, and this time many games of being eased back on the bench to avoid reinjury. He never looked settled, and the team would routinely improve when he was replaced by Lamine Yamal. Then he picked up another hamstring injury that kept him out for nearly 3 weeks.

Raphinha just could not get going. There’d be the odd goal or assist, but nothing where you felt like he was turning the corner and becoming a genuine leader for the team in the same way that Dembélé, for all his terrible decision-making, surely was.

A 16 year-old had displaced him and was clearly Barcelona’s best winger. 16!! A child 10 years Raphinha’s junior! He couldn’t stay fit! It was like Getafe had cursed him.

All the more fitting, then, that he was the architect of their demise yesterday. The chief tormentor of Jose Bordolas and his hideously violent brand of football.

The funny thing is he did nothing to deserve the start. Lamine Yamal has been playing out of his mind in 2024 and fully merited keeping his spot. However, Lamine Yamal’s tender age necessitates protection from Xavi. And so, with big games on the horizon, the Catalan coach sensibly dropped him to the bench.

So Raphinha had his chance. And when he came out onto the pitch with his young baby rocking shades and exuding ths most exceptionally good vibes, you sensed the Brazilian would do something great at Montjuic.

And, well, he did!

“I really wanted to play this game, they sent me off against Getafe on the first day, it's special for me and winning by many goals, the better.” — Raphinha

Raphinha only ended the game with one goal and one assist, but he was the chief architect of Getafe’s demise. Whereas the first game of the season saw him fluff his lines and generally act like an idiot, yesterday he was driven.

He almost started the game in outrageous fashion with a back heel flick from a corner that nearly went in. That alone showed he was operating on a different plane.

While he still couldn’t do much when 1-v-1 dribbling, he was constantly making runs at the back of the Getafe defence. After succeeding with a low block on matchday one, José Bordolas decided to run with a high-pressing system at Montjuic as he sought to take advantage of Barcelona’s recent frailties at the back.

A brief defensive aside

However, Barcelona’s defenders were devastatingly composed under pressure. Ronald Araujo moved to left centre-back and the change in angles seemed to unlock his ball-playing abilities. He wasn’t the reincarnation of Gerard Piqué or anything, but he wasn’t the liability in possession he often is.

Joao Cancelo was alright defensively, which is about all he has to be in Xavi’s system, especially given that Araujo was the one at his back (and he remains a spectacular vibesman, especially socialising with the team’s youngsters on social media).

Jules Kounde was once again a rock at right-back. The Frenchman’s improved form recently indicates he’s finally gotten over his knee injury, which is huge because it essentially adds a world-class defender to a Barcelona back-line that needed more world-class talent in it.

The star of the show, at least in terms of evading the press anyway, was Pau Cubarsi. The 17 year-old was now playing right centre-back but was as absurdly comfortable as ever. Possibly even moreso now he was between Araujo and Kounde.

Cubarsi showed no fear of Getafe’s physical approach, handling that well, and with the ball he was sensational. His passes repeatedly cut through the lines of Getafe’s press and played a key part in at least two of the goals. He was absolutely unreal.

“Pau Cubarsí is the best ball playing defender we have. It’s spectacular to watch him play, and he’s only 17 years old.” — Xavi

Back to attack

One of those goals was the opener, as his pass out wide found Kounde who, seeing Getafe’s high line creep up and Raphinha dart behind it, took one touch then lofted a gorgeous pass through the Catalan sky over the whole defence right into Raphinha’s path.

The Brazilian took it down, advanced on goal, and where you expected him to inexplicably fluff his lines, the vibes he got from his baby were still in full flow and he resisted the defensive pressure at his back slotted it beautifully in the far corner.

1-0 Barcelona!

Raphinha had obviously used up all the vibes though because what followed was more of what we’d usually seen so far this season. Raphinha spent the rest of the half annihilating Getafe’s high line with his movement, sure, but the composure he showed on the goal deserted him. Twice more he was put through thanks to gorgeously quick feet from Robert Lewandowski, and twice he made a mess of the situation; once with a shot and once when squaring it for João Felix.

Anyway, at half-time Raphinha must have gotten another hug from his son because he came out for the second-half all guns blazing. The runs were the same, constantly at the back of Getafe’s high-line, but now the use of the ball was much sharper.

Less than 10 minutes into the second-half Cubarsi once again passed it nervelessly through the Getafe press to Ikay Gundogan who slipped it wide to Raphinha. Holding that classic Xavi wing position right on the touchline, the Brazilian was “open” and thus able to see Andreas Christensen breaking from midfield.

Raphinha took one touch then slipped a gorgeous through-ball into the Dane’s path. The ball was so perfectly weighted Christensen didn’t even have to touch it until he slipped it beautifully square across the box for João Felix to arrive and tap home.

2-0 Barcelona!

The hits kept on coming, too! Raphinha later set Robert Lewandowski up to score with a clever through-ball, albeit the offside flag correctly ruled that one out. The Brazilian was not to be denied, however, and so on the hour he was once again darting in behind the defence as Ilkay Gundogan bundled a pass through to him. David Soria immediately came out to stop Raphinha from taking an early shot.

Once again, here’s where you expected the Brazilian to be rash and rush things but he kept his composure, didn’t shoot straight into the goalkeeper, and instead took one step around the Spaniard then simply turned around like this was a game of EA Sports FC 24 (though if you’re over the age of 8 you’ll always call it FIFA) and passed it to Frenkie de Jong, whose surging run had begun this attack. The Dutchman was left with a simple finish, passing it into the net.

3-0 Barcelona!

Rotation???? In this economy????

The goal was their 11,000th in history and all but ended the match as a contest. Barcelona were chilling, players were subbed off to keep them fresh, notably Raphinha, João Felix and Andreas Christensen.

It is key for Xavi to keep these three men healthy because they enable a much healthier squad rotation set-up. With Christensen in midfield, Barcelona have a physical presence who is good on the ball (though not great, as he is in defence when the whole pitch is ahead of him) and solid defensively. This allows them to rotate their midfield fancy boys so they don’t all have to play all the time, such as today when Pedri was on the bench until the 83rd minute when he replaced Gundogan, who became the first player across Europe’s top five leagues to create 100 chances across all competitions (he also tops La Liga’s chances created list with 72).

João Felix being fit also aids with this, as well as simply being a great talent himself. No one would ever call the Portuguese winger consistent, but his ability always makes him a threat and his sheer existence as a proper player in left-wing means Xavi doesn’t have to pull other players out of position to cover.

Raphinha, meanwhile, is perhaps one of the most important players for Barcelona to keep fit. Not just for his individual quality that we saw yesterday in spades — his pace, his direct running and constant intent to exploit space — but because he allows Barcelona to, you know, not play their 16 year-old prodigy every week.

“It is a privilege to have him competing with me because he is to be a great player. The competition is going to make us better, it is an honor for me.” — Raphinha

Lamine Yamal has been the sensation of the season but after over 700 minutes in the first two months of 2024 including numerous 90 minute displays and one that clocked over 100 minutes in the Copa loss to Athletic, the kid needed a rest.

That Xavi never even took him off the bench today was both a beautiful sight to see and a huge boon to the quality of Raphinha’s performance. There was no need to panick-sub the Brazilian as there has been at times this season. No. He was able to stay on for 77 minutes and win the game before being removed to rapturous applause.

His replacement, Vitor Roque, should have made it 4-0 when a brilliant Frenkie de Jong through-ball set him away. The teenager tried to slot his shot low but didn’t quite find the corner, luckily for the Blaugrana the rebound fell to Fermin Lopez who made no mistake, smashing the rebound home.

4-0 Barcelona!

An effective, gamechanging force

The game was already over by that point, thanks mostly to Raphinha’s regal display. After embarrassing himself at the start of the season he has now shown the true scope of his ability. With 12 games left to play in La Liga this season and between 1 and 6 in the Champions League, there’s still time for the Brazilian to redeem himself and have a truly terrific end to the season.

He already got his revenge on Getafe, now he can do the same to his critics. To everyone on and offline who has ever doubted him. To the folks who said he had been outplayed and displaced by a child (no comment as to whether 97 Passes was among those saying that). Everyone is there to be proven wrong.

Lamine Yamal is undoubtedly the future of Barcelona’s right flank, but at 27 years-old there is no reason why Raphinha cannot be Barcelona’s present. He has the ability (well, except for dribbling) to be a devastatingly impactful winger, he just needs consistency and mental focus to use the ball smartly every week. To be an effective, gamechanging force.

Can he do that if not personally motivated by revenge? You would hope so, but probably best to bring his vibing baby to every match for pre-half hugs just in case! Revenge is great n’ all, but awesome baby vibes are better.