Raphinha has been in sublime form throughout 2024-25, but how do his stats compare to Lionel Messi’s final season at Barcelona? We’ve crunched the numbers.
After arriving from Leeds United in 2022, the Brazilian was a solid performer during his first two years in Spain, but he’s taken his game to a completely new level this season.
During 2024-25 alone, he’s already scored more goals than he managed in his first two seasons at Barcelona combined.
He’s also delivering in the biggest moments, having scored against Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, to name a few.
The Brazilian recently came to the rescue and scored Barcelona’s only goal of the game against Benfica as Hansi Flick’s side claimed a 1-0 win in the first leg, despite being down to 10 men.
Raphinha has now scored 25 goals across all competitions and has produced 18 assists, taking his overall goal contribution tally to 43.
Given the consistent numbers that he’s been producing for Hansi Flick’s side, it’s no wonder that the 28-year-old is among the favourites for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
Barcelona will likely have to go deep in the Champions League and win some domestic silverware for Raphinha to have a chance of winning, but he’s certainly in the conversation right now.
Flick seems to have brought the best out of the Brazilian and Barcelona fans have no doubt enjoyed the ride during 2024-25 so far.
“When his arrival was made official, he called me and told me that he was one of the players he counted on, without knowing me or having seen me train,” Raphinha told France Football.
“This was very important in my decision to stay. I knew it would be important for the team.”
In comparison, during Messi’s final season at Barcelona in 2020-21, the Argentine forward produced 52 goal contributions across all competitions.
While Messi does currently have the edge on Raphinha, the stats are a lot closer than they first seem.
When you take into consideration the number of minutes that each player has played, Raphinha has actually been more productive than Messi was during his final season with the club.
The Brazilian has produced a goal or assist every 75.9 minutes for Barcelona, whereas Messi chipped in with a goal contribution every 80.6 minutes on average during the 2020-21 campaign.
It’s also worth taking into consideration that Messi was Barcelona’s chief penalty taker that season, whereas Raphinha has only taken one penalty during 2024-25.
Here’s the full breakdown of how Raphinha’s stats compare to Messi’s final season at Barcelona:
Raphinha’s 2024-25 stats
Games: 40
Goals: 25
Assists: 18
Goal contributions: 43
Penalties: 1
Minutes per goal: 130.5
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 135.9
Minutes per goal or assist: 75.9
Lionel Messi’s final season at Barcelona
Games: 47
Goals: 38
Assists: 14
Goal contributions: 52
Penalties: 7
Minutes per goal: 110.3
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 135.3
Minutes per goal or assist: 80.6
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