Leeds United favourite Raphinha surpasses 13-year Lionel Messi record - Cristiano Ronaldo is next
The former Leeds United man continued his quest for the Ballon d’Or during Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final meeting with Inter Milan.
Former Leeds United star Raphinha took another step towards Champions League history last night after surpassing Lionel Messi’s highest single-season goal involvement tally.
Raphinha took a bit of a backseat at Camp Nou as teenage star Lamine Yamal lit up Barcelona’s 3-3 semi-final first-leg draw against Inter Milan, but he did manage to notch an assist. It was the Brazilian's deft header that landed at the feet of Ferran Torres to ensure a dramatic first-half ended 2-2, with the home side fighting back from 2-0 down.
Inter re-established their lead on the hour mark before Raphinha looked to have scored an absolute rocket, but for replays to show his rifled effort from a rehearsed set-piece bounced off the crossbar before going in off the back of Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer. And so the former Elland Road favourite ended the night with just one assist, but it was enough to see him rise above a Barcelona legend.
A goal and two assists against Borussia Dortmund last month took Raphinha to 19 direct goal involvements in just 11 Champions League appearances this season, the same number Messi - undoubtedly the greatest ever player to walk out at Camp Nou - racked up during Barcelona’s 2011/12 campaign. And the £55million Leeds exit is now out on his own on 20, with the overall competition record in his sights.
Raphinha hunting down Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League record
Messi’s long-term Ballon d’Or rival Cristiano Ronaldo currently holds the record for most direct goal involvements in one Champions League campaign, having registered 17 goals and 4 assists on his way to winning the competition with Los Blancos. The Portuguese international is out on his own on 21 involvements, with Raphinha now alongside Robert Lewandowski just one behind.
An encouraging omen for Raphinha’s Ballon d’Or quest is that Messi was crowned the world’s best after hitting that 19-goal Champions League tally, while Ronaldo won the prestigious award after setting the new record nine years ago. But the former Leeds man’s main focus will be on beating Inter in their semi-final second-leg at San Siro next week.
Barcelona beat Madrid to claim the Copa del Rey last week and are on course to claim the La Liga title, with a four-point gap on their rivals and five games left to play. And so victory over Inter could put them and Raphinha within 90 minutes of a historic treble, a feat which would do little harm to his Ballon d’Or prospects.
“My head is not thinking about the Ballon d’Or,” Raphinha told CBS Sports, as translated by presenter Kate Scott, last month. “I want to win everything I can for Barcelona, that’s the most important thing for me. The goal I have is to win titles, and with titles, individual titles will come. But the most important thing for me is to win prizes with this shirt, which has been my dream since I was young.”
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