Raphinha took the floor in the away dressing room at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night, 20 October. Barcelona had just lost 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain, their first defeat of the season, and the captain stepped forward to address his team-mates.
Désiré Doué, Lucas Hernández, Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz had scored for the hosts, three of them in the last 18 minutes. Xavi Espart and Lamine Yamal replied for Barcelona. The final score was 4-2 in the Champions League league phase, and an 11-game winning run was over.
Cadena SER’s Santi Ovalle described the captain’s intervention on the station the next morning, as relayed in print by Barça Universal.
“He gave a speech telling them to stay calm, to keep doing our job, to stay calm. A very important match is coming up, a Clasico, and we have to keep proving ourselves and not let this defeat affect us more than usual, since there’s still a lot of Champions League left.”
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Barcelona had also been without Eric García and Jules Koundé in Paris, with Rodri Hernández starting on the bench.
Flick traced the defeat to fatigue
Half an hour later, in the press room, the manager struck the same note.
“In October you can’t win titles. You win the Champions League in June. This is the way how we want to do it,” Flick said, via ESPN.
He put the result down to tired legs and sloppy possession, with a nod to the storm-hit trip back from Seville four days earlier.
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“We made too many mistakes, especially in ball possession, easy ball losses. This is what we have to analyse,” the German said.
“We have to understand the mistakes happen because they are not fresh. What they had to do the last couple of weeks is unbelievable.”
Raphinha in front of the cameras
The captain’s public message was shorter and harder than the private one.
“We’ve only lost three points. Now we need to be ready for El Clásico. Focus,” he told reporters, via Goal.
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“We knew this could happen. We are facing the two-time European champions, and playing in front of their fans is extremely difficult,” he added.
Flick handed Raphinha the permanent armband for 2026-27 in pre-season, pointing to his standing inside the squad as the deciding factor.
Barcelona arrive at Sunday’s Clasico six points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga’s current standings, with a 9-0-0 record from their opening nine matches. Kick-off at Spotify Camp Nou on 25 October is at 9pm local time.
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