In the midst of Barcelona’s 1-2 loss to Las Palmas, a subtle detail went largely unnoticed but could be significant. It concerns the hierarchy of the team’s captaincy, which was disrupted during the match against last weekend’s opponent.
Three of the five club captains were on the field, yet when Frenkie de Jong came on as a substitute, he did not receive the captain’s armband from Raphinha, who kept the role until the final whistle.
This incident is not entirely new but stands out given that in previous matches, Raphinha had handed over the armband to Frenkie as soon as he came on.
It was an unusual sight for fans watching the match, considering that in the past, there had been a consistent transfer of captaincy when Frenkie replaced other players on the pitch.
The last time Frenkie, who is still struggling with an ankle issue, entered as a substitute, in the Champions League game against Young Boys, Raphinha was still the one wearing the armband, even though Barcelona were leading 4-0.
Raphinha has always handed him the band
Raphinha did not give Frenkie de Jong the captain’s armband against Las Palmas. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
The scenarios have repeated in subsequent matches leading up to the defeat to Las Palmas, with Raphinha transferring the captaincy to Frenkie when he entered the game.
Notably, this included moments in games such as the Alaves and Bayern Munich matches, where Raphinha passed the armband over to Frenkie as soon as he took to the field.
In some fixtures, like the 0-4 win against Real Madrid, Frenkie wore the armband after coming on at half-time. The same occurred in the derby against Espanyol.
There have also been moments where Frenkie wore the armband briefly, even when coming on late, such as in matches against Celta Vigo and Brest.
On both occasions, despite the limited time, he finished the match as captain, a clear sign of his growing leadership within the squad.
It must be noted that within the hierarchy of Barcelona’s leadership, de Jong is the team’s third captain and Raphinha is fourth. However, once he came on against Las Palmas, the order did not change.