Luis Garcia Plaza had just watched Raphinha score three past his Sevilla side. He walked to his post-match press conference at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán and spent much of it on the 2026 Ballon d’Or list, a list the Barcelona forward is not on.
“It’s a joke that he’s not even nominated for the Ballon d’Or. He is a match winner, that’s why I don’t believe in these prizes. He does everything,” Garcia said.
Youssouf Fofana had headed Sevilla in front in the 19th minute. Three minutes later Raphinha took a pass from Andreas Christensen, cut inside and curled a right-footed shot into the far corner. He headed in a Lamine Yamal cross seven minutes into the second half, then dinked a left-footed lift over goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos on 69 minutes to complete a perfect hat-trick. It was his second in four days after a treble in Barcelona’s 7-2 win over Racing Santander in midweek.
The season behind the outburst
Raphinha now has 12 goals and three assists in his first seven La Liga games, 15 goal involvements that match the total Karim Benzema produced for Real Madrid in 2021-22, the joint-highest by any player through seven rounds this century. He is also the first La Liga player since Antoine Griezmann in February 2018 to score three or more in consecutive league games. Across all competitions the 29-year-old is on 14 goals for the season.
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Barcelona have won all seven of their league fixtures since the season started, scoring 31 goals along the way.
Flick calls Raphinha ‘the best captain’
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick made the same argument for his forward after the match.
“There’s no better captain than Raphinha. He is the best captain we could have,” Flick said, adding that Raphinha’s season “has been spectacular”.
The 30-man shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, based on last season’s performances, does not include Raphinha. It does include his Barcelona teammate Lamine Yamal, Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, Paris Saint-Germain’s Vitinha and reigning winner Ousmane Dembélé, and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi.
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The ceremony is at the London Palladium on Monday 26 October. Raphinha will not be there.
