Raphinha scored twice on Tuesday night, then walked into the post-match press room and said he would not talk about the match. Hours earlier, in a hospital in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 30-year-old Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel had died after a cardiac arrest triggered by an on-field collision.
“After I saw the news, I didn’t feel good. In the end, he was a fellow football player. This could have happened to any of us. It could have happened to me,” Raphinha told reporters.
Before kick-off, Barcelona set aside the usual Champions League anthem and held a minute’s silence for De Miguel, the Catalan club confirmed in its match report. The 3-0 win was built around a seventh-minute strike from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha goals in the 52nd and 64th.
Asked about his own performance, the Brazil winger declined.
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“Today is not a good day to talk about football,” he said.
Jesús de Miguel, 30
De Miguel collapsed on Monday during Tenerife’s Spanish second-division fixture against FC Andorra, struck in the chest in the 97th minute by Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono after the keeper came rushing from his area to clear a long ball.
The match was abandoned at 2-2, Owono was shown a red card, and De Miguel was taken to the University Hospital Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. His club announced his death at 8am on Tuesday, saying in its statement that it was “racked with pain, with a lump in our throats and unable to believe that this is true.” Spanish judicial authorities have opened a routine inquiry under the country’s standard procedure for non-natural deaths.
Flick: ‘a big tragedy’
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick said the news had sat heavily on his players all day.
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“Our deepest condolences to the family, the club, the friends, everyone … it’s a big tragedy,” Flick said.
UEFA has ordered a moment of silence before every match this week in tribute to De Miguel, according to Sky Sports.
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