Xavi sides with Raphinha. Raphinha, a winger for Barcelona, came under fire for his behavior after being replaced against Manchester United, and manager Xavi Hernandez of the team has defended the Brazilian. The match between the Blaugrana and the Red Devils in the Europa League round of 32 first leg last week at Camp Nou ended in a 2-2 tie.
Marcos Alonso gave Barcelona the lead, but just after the hour mark, United scored two goals quickly to put them in the losing column. Then Raphinha worked his magic, scoring in the 76th second to tie the score at two. To his disappointment, he was substituted just seven minutes later.
After being brought off, the winger was seen shouting and gesturing angrily at his manager for a while. One can understand why Raphinha reacted the way he did give the tied score at the moment and the approximately 10-minute remaining playing time. He was replaced by Ferran Torres, who had little effect on the game.
During the press conference following the game, Xavi discussed Raphinha’s response, saying: “As I was also outraged, I can see and relate to Raphinha’s rage. I don’t make the modifications to single somebody out but rather with the team in mind. Raphinha is sorry, albeit he didn’t have to. Everyone wanting to play is something that I view positively.”
The Barcelona manager further explained his trust in Raphinha by saying: “I was the one who had the most faith in him. He leads the team in the number of assists. He wins, plays more courageously in 1v1, and is exceptional. Notwithstanding the criticism, I was confident Raphinha would be successful in this situation.”
Barcelona will host Cadiz CF in La Liga to regain their eight-point lead before going to Manchester to take on the Red Devils. In their most recent game, they defeated Villarreal by a score of 1-0.
But Real Madrid did play Wednesday night, defeating Osasuna 2-0 in a tense match. They are now only five points behind Barca, who will play later tonight. They have participated in 21 La Liga games so far, winning 56 points. They have displayed outstanding defensive play, scoring 43 goals while giving up just seven.
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