Barcelona captain’s stellar season already overshadows Vinicius Jr’s best-ever campaign | OneFootball

There is no denying the fact that Hansi Flick’s Barcelona is one of the best sides to watch this season in Europe. With an aggressive play style that offers a lot of goals and chances, it is the epitome of attacking football. Moreover, even the Barcelona players themselves have benefited from it.

The forwards in particular have seen this new set-up improve their statistical output in terms of their goals and assists. Both Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, at this point in time, have showcased that they have the ability to lead the team with their goals if they are given the right system to thrive in.

Moreover, when it comes to the Brazilian forward in particular, there is a significant difference in terms of his output this season compared to previous seasons. In fact, his current campaign has already managed to eclipse even Brazilian compatriot Vinicius Jr’s best ever campaign, which was the one he had last season.

As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, Raphinha has already scored 24 goals and provided 13 assists this season. In comparison, Vinicius Jr last season scored 25 goals and provided 12 assists by the end of the campaign. For the Barcelona star, those numbers have already been reached and there is still a long way left to go.

Interestingly, with the numbers that Vinicius Jr produced last season, there was a massive campaign for him to secure the Ballon d’Or. However, Manchester City midfielder ended up winning that award following a dominant Euros campaign with the Spanish National team.

Now, this season, Raphinha has already eclipsed the overall numbers that Vinicius Jr delivered in his best ever season. Moreover, with around half the campaign still left, the Barcelona forward has a chance to outshine his compatriot’s numbers by an even bigger margin.

Interestingly, the Barcelona captain has also come out on top whenever he has faced off against Vinicius Jr’s Real Madrid side this season as well. First came a dominant demolition at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Barça won 4-0, and then a thrashing in the Spanish Super Cup final, which La Blaugrana ended as champions of the competition with a 5-2 win in the final.

Currently, Raphinha is the third-highest goalscorer in La Liga with 13 goals to his name, and is currently only behind Kylian Mbappe (16 goals) and Robert Lewandowski (19 goals). Over on the European stage, he is also the second-highest goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League with 8 goals and is only one behind the joint top-scorers Serhou Guirassy and Robert Lewandowski yet again (both with 9 goals).