When Barca beat Betis 4-0 at home, the focus was on the 15-year-old Yamal's debut, but not many people noticed the brilliant Brazil international Rafinha.
The latter scored his 10th goal and 11th assist for the red and blue this season, can this statistic impress Barca not to put him in the transfer market? With Messi expected to return, will Rafinha really be superfluous?
01. Rafinha is a good match for Lewandowski: make up for the latter's shortcomings
A. Rafinha first: Levan will arrive later
For Lewandowski, he needs wingers who can play as forwards. Especially as he gets older, Lewandowski's protrusion as an arrow becomes less and less effective.
The most suitable arrangement in the game is for the winger to rush forward appropriately to attract the central defender or push out of space. After Lewandowski retreats the tandem, he then rolls over and cuts in to catch the open space of the opponent's defense.
Taking this attack as an example, when Barca broke the ball, Rafinha suddenly sprinted from the right flank to the front of the attack.
This not only leaves space behind him to right-back Conde, but also gives centre-forward Lewandowski more options.
The valuable thing about Rafinha is that after he inserts forward, he can withdraw in time. Through continuous running, teammates are repeatedly given the opportunity to find space.
This style of play suits Lewandowski's needs. This time it was Rafinha's move that left Lewandowski in an open position, and Pedri went straight to Conde to start the overall attack.
It can be clearly seen from the camera that the moment Busquets broke the ball on the left wing, Rafinha also quickly started forward. Both Comte and Lewandowski were given better access space as a result.
This is the sense of attack hierarchy that Lewandowski wants, he doesn't want too many sprint runs, but he can use the advantage of uniform running coverage to find the attack opportunities brought by continuous transposition.
b. Pass the ball to each other: This is the sign of a good partner
Although Dembele can also assist Lewandowski, he is more suitable for Aubameyang in comparison, and Rafinha is Lewandowski's "good match".
As can be seen from the match heat map, Rafinha is often the first striker to receive the ball when Barca switch in attack and defense. Lewandowski is not very good at getting the ball on the road in the core area, and he also wants the winger or full-back to have the ball and pass it directly to him in front of goal.
In this wave of attack, Rafinha had a noticeable retreat move, shaking the opposing full-back.
After Conde took the ball, Rafinha immediately stepped forward to receive the ball, followed by a cross to Lewandowski, who missed the shot.
After Lewandowski's withdrawal, the quality of the pass was still good. This shot went straight to Rafinha, who cut inside and shot on goal, but unfortunately did not play well.
02. Rafinha 10 goals and 11 assists: stable statistics
a. There are many assists and turnovers
Since joining Barca, Rafinha has already collected 10 goals and 11 assists this season. In 1773 minutes in La Liga, he scored 7 goals and provided 6 assists, and his performance was not bad.
Rafinha's cross is actually very characteristic, with good arc and speed (and examples of flying directly into the Manchester United goal), but at Barca, it is not highly utilized.
This time it was Lewandowski who covered up the front to attract the attention of the centre-back and give Andreas Christensen the opportunity at the back.
Pedri managed the timing of the ball well, and Rafinha could deliver quality passes with his left foot from his favourite position.
Lewandowski attracted attention and Christensen headed the ball into the bottom of the net.
Rafinha has a lot of receiving positions up front, he can play as a winger, he can also act as a temporary arrow on the counter-attack, and he can even cut inside the ball to attack the third zone.
However, overall, apart from crosses, Rafinha's other passing errors are still on the higher side. Unlike Dembele's unpredictable passing quality, Rafinha's passing quality most of the time can only be said to be average.
b. Can be used as a temporary arrow
From the point of view of receiving position, Rafinha is definitely not a winger, and his functions are still very diverse.
It is no accident that Busquets has provided a total of three assists this season, all to Rafinha.
When Lewandowski wants to retreat to avoid the attention of the opposing centre-back, Rafinha is the best temporary arrow option and the sharpest presence in Barca's current arrowhead.
Rafinha this time without the ball forward to throw away the central defender is very beautiful, right-footed after receiving the ball and left-footed to pick the goal, also in one go.
It is fair to say that Rafinha and Lewandowski are the best partners in the Barca team.
03. If Messi returns: Is there still a place for Rafinha?
a. Good at confrontation and counter-robbery: but it will also delay the fighter
Rafinha is 26 years old, and the Brazilian grassroots attacker is a spelling character: confrontational, running, fast.
However, in the game, he is prone to mistakes and the timeliness of passing is not good, making him more suitable for the type of continuous attack like Neymar, and not very suitable for Messi's style of play that pays more attention to precision and the success rate of a single attack.
This time Rafinha's upper tackle was beautiful, but the subsequent dribbling was a typical shot. During the grappling, Rafinha failed to pass the ball in time and was fouled to win a free kick opportunity.
Lewandowski is still relatively capable of running and can run a few more times with Rafinha, but if Messi repeatedly runs empty and can't get the ball, it is not a good thing after all.
Again, this time Rafinha wanted to pass to Conde, but it turned out to be a mistake again. He was the first to get the ball back, but an accelerated counter-attack opportunity was gone.
B. Messi's return: Need assist-type right-back and sharp left winger
It is understandable that even if Rafinha has good statistics, once Messi returns, he is likely to be put on the shelf.
Firstly, the Brazil international can be sold for a certain price, and secondly, he is not suitable to partner with Messi.
In addition to the cooperation and error control with Messi, the former needs a strong attacking right-back and a sharp left winger.
Rafinha has proven unsuitable on the left flank. At the same time, Barca's current right-back is not suitable for assisting. If you buy Ashraf's type, Rafinha will look even more chicken on the right.
Conclusion:
Considering Messi's return to Barca, there are still great variables. What the future holds will be at least a month before we can tell.
However, Rafinha, who handed over two doubles in the first season, is indeed a bit embarrassing at Barca. Lewandowski himself, in particular, is uncertain about his next position in the team, which makes the future of Rafinha, who is more suitable for him, even more uncertain.