It was a tense moment for the Brazilian forward, as Raphinha spent a few anxious seconds worrying if the goal might be ruled out.
Unable to fully judge the ball’s trajectory, Raphinha instinctively slid in at the last moment and tapped it in—redirecting a shot that was likely going in from teammate Pau Cubarsí. That goal, in a dominant win over Borussia Dortmund, was credited to Raphinha instead of Cubarsí. But the incident clearly left a mark on his conscience, and he wasted no time in apologizing.
The moment came during the first leg of Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final clash. After a headed pass from Iñigo Martínez off a free-kick, Cubarsí’s strike deflected off Dortmund keeper Kobel and was rolling toward goal. Just before it crossed the line, Raphinha made contact, securing the goal for himself.
Later in the match, Robert Lewandowski scored twice, and Lamine Yamal added another as Barcelona stormed to a 4–0 win, all but sealing a place in the semi-finals.
Naturally, after the game, Raphinha was asked about the goal—and how close he came to potentially costing the team a crucial score.
“I was thinking whether I was offside for the first goal,” he said. “Thankfully, the goal was allowed. I apologized to Cubarsí. He told me not to worry about it and said he’d count it as an assist. I honestly thought the ball was going out, it was just an instinctive reaction.”
Raphinha has been in electric form this Champions League season. The goal against Dortmund took his tally to 12—more than any other player in the tournament. He also provided key contributions to the goals by Lewandowski and Yamal, bringing his assist count to seven.
That’s a total of 19 goal involvements in this year’s Champions League—matching Lionel Messi’s best-ever return in a single campaign. Raphinha is proud of his consistent impact on the team’s success.
“I enjoy playing with top-level players,” he said. “On the pitch, we understand each other really well, and that makes a big difference. We’re achieving great things and hopefully, we’ll keep going like this.”
Barcelona have now scored four or more goals in 21 out of their 48 matches this season across all competitions. With 99 total goals so far, the attacking trio has done the heavy lifting—Lewandowski leads the way with 40, Raphinha has 28, and Yamal has added 14.
Unless something extraordinary happens next Tuesday in Dortmund, Barcelona are set to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2019.
