‘Overwhelmed’: 25-year-old who rejected Chelsea fails to impress in Champions League debut
https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/overwhelmed-25-year-old-who-rejected-Chelsea-fails-to-impress-in-champions-league-debut/
Barcelona’s Raphinha has been criticised by Barca Universal for his performance in his side’s 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The match presented the first big challenge for this new look Barcelona team, after being handed a match against Viktotis Plzen in the first gameweek of the competition.
Raphinha, who sensationally chose to join the Catalan club over Chelsea at the last minute, was benched for last week’s game, as new signing Robert Lewandowski stole the headlines with a sensational hat-trick.
The Brazilian was chosen though to take on the Bundesliga champions, with it undoubtedly being the biggest test their respective group has to offer.
However, Xavi’s side were humbled as they were outclassed in a 2-0 defeat, with Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane on the scoresheet in the second half.
Raphinha overwhelmed by Champions League
Raphinha’s performance didn’t go unnoticed, with Barca Universal being heavily critical of his display, particularly in the first half.
They said: “The Brazilian seemed overwhelmed by the occasion early on. Involved in an intense duel with Alphonso Davies with neither willing to give the other an inch. But it was the Canadian who came out on top.
“Raphinha came close with a low drilled effort before swapping flanks with Dembele at the half-hour mark. Returned to the right after the break and saw another effort miss narrowly. Taken off soon after Bayern made it 2-0. A humbling outing for the Brazilian.”
Chelsea had made Raphinha their priority to bring in alongside Raheem Sterling in attack, with some fans claiming his creativity had been seriously lacking so far this season.
The Blues meanwhile look ahead to tonight’s massive game against RB Salzburg, with a win required following last week’s humbling of their own against Dinamo Zagreb.
The game will be Graham Potter’s first in charge of the club, and it will be interesting to see if he decides to start any players who were only on the fringes under Thomas Tuchel.
