Barcelona's season at risk of falling apart following Raphinha injury

There were just a few minutes to go in the first half of Brazil's friendly with France last week when Raphinha began to experience what Carlo Ancelotti called "mild discomfort" in his right thigh. However, the mere fact that he failed to re-emerge for the second period at Gillette Stadium immediately put Barcelona's medical team on red alert and they promptly reached out to the winger, desperately hoping to receive reassurance that he hadn't aggravated an issue that had already sidelined him twice this season.

Unfortunately for the Blaugrana, immediate tests carried out by the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) confirmed another hamstring injury. "The player is returning to Barcelona to begin the appropriate treatment,"

Consequently, Raphinha will be sidelined for a crucial run of fixtures, including a potentially season-defining trilogy with Atletico Madrid, which starts with a league clash at the Metropolitano on Saturday night, meaning there's now a very real risk that Barcelona's entire campaign could completely unravel without arguably their most influential player...

'It's infuriating'

Barcelona president Joan Laporta was unsurprisingly enraged by Raphinha suffering such an untimely injury in a friendly in the United States.

"It's a real shame,"

"You can't blame the players, they are professionals and they give their all for their country. The problem is the crowded schedule at the time of the season when we are playing for everything. It's infuriating!"

According to reports, Barca may be eligible for compensation under the terms of the FIFA Club Protection Programme, as Raphinha is expected to be out of action for more than a month.

However,

'Really p*ssed off'

Former Barcelona forward Pau Victor admitted earlier this week that he'd yet to even get in contact with Raphinha because

Certainly, the timing of the injury will have hit the versatile winger very hard indeed. On top of the fact that the World Cup is now just over two months away, creating a fear that Raphinha might not be fully match fit for the start of Brazil's campaign, he has also been very open about the fact that he is determined to win the Champions League with Barcelona,

The former Leeds United star certainly couldn't have done much more to help the Blaugrana try win their sixth European Cup last season, with Raphinha finishing as the tournament's joint-top scorer, on 13 goals.

Despite his injury issues, he also played a pivotal role in Barca reaching the quarter-finals this term by scoring two goals and creating three others in the stunning 7-2 second-leg demolition of Newcastle at Camp Nou just before the international break.

What's more, just three days before that outstanding display, Raphinha had hit a hat-trick in the 5-2 rout of La Liga rivals Sevilla - which only serves to underline just how well he was playing before his latest hamstring issue.

Rashford to the rescue?

Of course, Raphinha's unavailability means opportunity knocks for Barcelona's supporting cast, including Marcus Rashford, and it's an opportunity that could not have come at a better time for the England international.

As recently as the end of January, the Blaugrana looked almost certain to take up their option to sign Rashford on a permanent basis from Manchester United this summer for €30 million (£25m/$32m). He may not have been starting every game but he was regularly weighing in with goals and assists, particularly in the Champions League.

However, it's now being reported that

It's now more than two months since Rashford was directly involved in a goal for Barca and he didn't even get off the bench in the second leg of the last-16 clash with Newcastle.

Nonetheless, the Englishman remains the obvious replacement for Raphinha and if he excels in the Brazilian's absence, he could well convince the Catalans to make his season-long stay permanent.

Not the same side without Raphinha

Rashford certainly has the talent to help fill the void left by Raphinha. We've already seen that several times this season, most notably with the decisive double he scored at St. James' Park all the way back in September that really kickstarted his career in Catalunya.

It's not as if Barcelona are short on quality in attack either, with Ferran Torres, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo also competing for places in Flick's forward line alongside Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal, while it's believed that the German coach is also considering giving 17-year-old sensation Toni Fernandez more game time in the coming weeks.

For all their offensive talent, though, the fact of the matter is that Barcelona are simply not the same side without Raphinha, as has been proven time and time again over the past eight months.

The Blaugrana have lost just seven games this season. Raphinha missed five of them through injury and was only fit enough to play 28 minutes of the Champions League defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

'The one who puts the pressure on'

Raphinha's importance to Barcelona is obviously rooted in his outstanding output.

Even though he's been restricted to just 31 appearances in all competitions because of his worrying hamstring issues, the 29-year-old is still the Blaugrana's second-top scorer this season, with 19 goals, while he's also created a further eight.

From a purely attacking perspective, then, he's going to be missed badly, particularly in the triple-header with Atletico.

However, as Flick pointed out during Barca's injury crisis during the first half of the 2025-26 campaign, Raphinha's spell on the sidelines was particularly damaging

By his own admission, though, he never gives his team-mates a moment's rest either.

"I often feel like I'm being a bit pushy, maybe too much,"

"But that's just who I am and I demand more from people who I know can give much more. Someone has to, and I accept this responsibility."

And Raphinha is revelling in his role as Barcelona's de facto captain.

Irreplaceable

Ronald Araujo may be Barca's official captain but Raphinha, who has repeatedly stood in as skipper this season, is unquestionably the team's true leader.

He's held in the highest possible esteem by the senior figures in the dressing room and also seen as a real role model for the younger players because of his work-rate, professionalism and the remarkable way in which he went from a peripheral figure at Barcelona to the centre of the entire project.

His mere presence on the pitch, thus, lifts everyone around him - and that's why his five-week lay-off is such a hammer blow for the Blaugrana, who are unlikely to even have Raphinha back for the semi-finals of the Champions League should they manage to get past Atleti.

There's no guarantee either that he'll even be fully fit by the time the final and potentially crucial Clasico of the season rolls around on the weekend of May 10.

Barca are, of course, in a strong position in La Liga, with a four-point leader over Real Madrid, but Los Blancos have started to find some decent form under Alvaro Arbeloa and Kylian Mbappe is now back to boost their own bid for a Champions League-Primera Division double.

Barca, by contrast, have been robbed of their talisman at a pivotal point of the season and, as Victor stated,

The forward insists that his former club still have "the resources to cope without him" but there's undeniably a chance that Raphinha will once again prove painfully irreplaceable.