Massive changes took place in the FC Barcelona squad in the last summer transfer window. There were important departures and equally important additions that significantly changed the makeover of the Catalan team.
One of the most notable names to leave the club last summer was that of Ousmane Dembele. The Frenchman left the Catalan club to join PSG, and the Brazilian Raphinha was the clear-cut contender to permanently take the starting spot on the right wing in Barcelona.
Raphinha trying to make up for lost time
However, things have not gone exactly as planned for Raphinha. He got a red card in the first match of the season, and as he was suspended, Lamine Yamal emerged to make a strong claim for his position in the first team.
Matters for the Brazilian deteriorated even further as he picked up an injury in the match against Sevilla, which kept him out for around a month.
As things stand, Xavi trusts the La Masia graduate more than Raphinha for the said position in the squad. However, according to SPORT, Raphinha is set to make up for the time he has lost this season.
The Brazilian still considers himself to be an important part of the Barcelona squad and is confident that he can regain Xavi’s trust soon.
Raphinha expected to get minutes against Real Sociedad
Raphinha will benefit from the fact that Yamal himself is getting a lot of minutes and can suffer from so much burden, especially as he is still only 16 years old. Similarly, Ferran Torres is also going to get fewer minutes as he is no longer showing the magical scoring form that he was showing earlier in the season.
Thus, Raphinha can get significant minutes in the match against Real Sociedad this weekend. He already got thirteen minutes against Real Madrid and would be in an even better shape as he gets more time to get fully fit for the upcoming La Liga game.
