Every body: Barcelona without Rafinha has worse on-field statistics and lacks fighting spirit

Daily Sports compared Barcelona's offensive and defensive data with and without Rafinha.

The article writes that when a player is away, people tend to cherish him more, which is especially obvious in Rafinha. Barcelona's win-loss record with or without the Brazilian forward is huge.

Not only the difference in statistics, but also the difference in the team's fighting spirit and high-position pressing ability. These qualities that Raphinha brings are even more important in his absence from Barcelona.

Raphinha was originally expected to return in the El Clasico, but he felt unwell during training two days before the game and therefore failed to participate in the game. Although this is not a recurrence of the thigh muscle injury, he may still be sidelined, at least for this Sunday's game against Elche.

For head coach Flick, this is a serious blow. Raphinha is one of his key players (after Pedri and De Jong). Because Flick knows that Barcelona's performance without Rafinha is much worse.

This season, Barcelona won 7 games and drew 1 when Raphinha was on the court. This means that in La Liga and the Champions League, they only lost 2 points and remained unbeaten. The number of goals also proves the importance of Raphinha: Barcelona scored 21 goals in 8 games (including 3 goals scored by Raphinha and 2 assists) and only conceded 5 goals.

The situation without Rafinha is completely different. Raphinha has missed six games since he was substituted in Oviedo, during which time Barca won three and lost three. During this period, in La Liga and the Champions League, Barcelona only scored 9 of 18 points, and the winning rate dropped from 87.5% when Rafinha was on the court to 50%.

In addition, in the 6 games without Rafinha, Barcelona scored a total of 13 goals (6 of which were scored against Olympiacos, when they had a numerical advantage most of the time), and conceded 11 goals, averaging almost 2 goals per game.

Rafinha's role on the defensive end cannot be ignored. He is always the first to step forward to challenge the opponent's defender, forcing the opponent to make mistakes or fouls, thus helping Barcelona better control the rhythm of the game.

Rafinha’s leadership and fighting spirit also inspire teammates, especially young players. Without him, Barcelona's performance was significantly weakened and their reaction speed was much slower.