Barcelona star reveals he struggled to sleep after the game agaisnt Bayern Munich | OneFootball

FC Barcelona under Hansi Flick have looked unstoppable in most games so far this season and much of the credit has to be given to the attacking output of the front three – Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, and Raphinha.

Raphinha, in particular, has looked like a player reborn at Barcelona so far this season. Given the armband at the beginning of the campaign, the Brazilian would not have expected to be wearing it during games due to the presence of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

However, the untimely injury to the club captain coupled with the fact that both Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo were unavailable has seen Raphinha wear the armband and lead from the front with his performances.

Against Bayern Munich, in Barcelona’s 4-1 win, Raphinha was unstoppable. Against arguably one of the greatest goalkeepers to have played the sport, the Brazilian netted a sensational hattrick to give his side the win against the German giants.

After the game, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo, Raphinha admitted that he had struggled to fall asleep and that it took him half past four to hit the bed. He said:

“It’s harder to sleep than usual (laughs). After a match, we find it more difficult to rest. It takes us quite a while to fall asleep, and on top of that, when we have back-to-back games with barely any days off in between, it’s even harder the next day.”

“Personally, I was able to fall asleep around four-thirty and had to wake up at 10 to come back here to train. It’s not just because of the match itself, but we struggle to rest after games.”

Unfortunately for Barcelona, they face Real Madrid days after dismantling Bayern Munich in what was a high-intensity game. They literally have no time to rest in between the two games and the game on Saturday is just as important.

The momentum of the Bayern win should help Barcelona be ready for the Clasico. Under Hansi Flick, the Catalan club is one of the teams in the world that run the most, and recovery would be difficult, as Raphinha concurs.

If Raphinha can recover well and have a good game against Real Madrid and lead from the front, Barcelona can have a good game against Los Blancos. Let’s wait and see how that particular game pans out.