Barcelona winger Raphinha said that he understood Lamine Yamal’s angry reaction to being substituted “very well” after he was taken off in Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The draw means Barcelona finished second in the 36-team league, ensuring a bye through the play-off round.
But they were pegged back twice, having initially taken the lead on Wednesday, with Yamal scoring the opening goal of the game. The teenager seemed frustrated at being withdrawn in the second half, but Raphinha insisted there were no problems.
“He’s a spectacular player, it’s understandable that he gets angry. I understand his anger at not finishing the game because it has happened to me many times,” he said.
“But he did very well, he helped the team and scored a goal. I try to help him and I can say that I am very happy with his performance today and throughout the season.”
While Raphinha acknowledged the disappointment of not managing to win the game, he suggested that “we have to see the quality of our opponents”.
“Atalanta defended well and then took their chances. We passed the first phase, we are happy, and now we have to put our heads in La Liga.
“Running the whole field one-on-one is a bit boring, but we had to do our thing. We tried to do our thing, but in the end we took a point,” he said.
7 – FC Barcelona have won seven of their last eight UEFA Champions League home games (L1), scoring 25 goals, with their only defeat coming against PSG in last season’s quarter-finals (4-1).
Convincing. pic.twitter.com/57bYtW2NlX
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 29, 2025
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick agreed with the Brazilian, suggesting that finishing second place was an overwhelmingly positive outcome.
“I’m happy with the second position in the league phase. I think it’s a great success for the team. Today was a difficult game,” said Flick.
“I think we could have done a bit better, but overall we’re satisfied with the result and qualifying as second. It was definitely a great football match because Atalanta defended well one-on-one, and we learned a lot from this game with a view to the future.
“That’s what we have to improve, the defensive work. We are happy to finish in this position, but we have to work on many things. We have the potential to do something more, and now we will have an extra week to be able to do more training.”
