Barcelona captain Raphinha was interviewed by Catalan radio station RAC1. In the second part of this exclusive interview, Raphinha discussed his omission from the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist, his goal and trophy targets for the new season, his support for Yamal for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, and other topics.

Presenter: Do you know you've broken Messi's record at the start of the season? That is, in the early stages of La Liga and the Champions League, your statistics are better than Messi's were at that time.

Raphinha: Yeah, someone mentioned it to me.

Presenter: How does that feel?

Raphinha: It sounds incredible, right? After all, you're surpassing the statistics of the best player in football history, both for the club and in world football. To be able to surpass Messi's statistics is something to celebrate, but Messi is Messi, and in my opinion, he's incomparable.

Presenter: So have you set yourself a goal tally now? I mean, have you set one? Can you tell us?

Raphinha: Yes. No comment. (laughs)

Presenter: You're not going to tell us!

Marta: You don't want to say.

Raphinha: I won't tell you, but I've written it down.

Presenter: Okay.

Raphinha: Some people on the team know.

Presenter: You actually wrote down the number of goals you're aiming for?

Raphinha: Yes.

Presenter: Is it the total number of goals for the entire season, right? Everything combined: Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, across all competitions.

Raphinha: Across all competitions.

Presenter: Okay, okay, okay. If you reach this target, is there a bet, challenge, or celebration involved?

Raphinha: No, no, it's purely a personal target for me.

Presenter: Understood. So can we say you're in the best moment of your career right now?

Raphinha: Yes. For now, yes.

Presenter: For now, that's certainly true. Regarding Hans-Flick, you said earlier that he changed your life. Why do you say that? Is it because of these performances, or is there another reason?

Raphinha: Yes, because he completely changed my mentality, and he also changed my situation at the club. As I've always said, after the Copa América and before the coach arrived, I had already planned to leave the club; I'd already made that decision. The coach's arrival played a crucial role in convincing me to stay.

Presenter: If Álvarez had joined, maybe you wouldn't have had the chance to play.

Raphinha: Maybe yes, maybe no, it's hard to say.

Presenter: Do you understand Atlético Madrid's approach? Do you understand the whole situation?

Raphinha: To be honest, I don't fully understand it, because I believe that from my personal perspective, if you're not happy or comfortable in a place, things often don't go well. Of course, things could also develop positively, I'm not saying he'd definitely have problems, but when you feel uncomfortable, it's hard to settle in and work in peace. And he had clearly expressed his desire to leave and join us to fight alongside us on multiple occasions. Of course, I understand that the club doesn't want to let go of a player of such high caliber, but I think their approach is a bit unusual.

Presenter: I have two final questions here, and then Gerard and Marta will also have some questions for you. Are you disappointed at not being included in the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist? Do you feel bad about not being in the Ballon d'Or top 30?

Raphinha: Will I feel bad? No, not really.

Presenter: Don't you think it's unfair? I'm speaking for you. Well, what do you think?

Raphinha: No, yes I do think it's quite unfair. Not just for me, but even more so for Pedri. I think Pedri absolutely should have been on the list as well. Ultimately, that's what I think. From what I can see, this award evaluates individual statistics, team honors like trophies, and those crucial moments and standout performances in big matches, and so on. From that perspective, yes, I do think there's some injustice, not just with me, but also with Pedri, and certainly other players I can't think of right now who have also been treated unfairly. But again, many past selections have also had their share of injustice, so honestly, I don't care.

Presenter: If you keep playing with this momentum, they might as well give you next year's Ballon d'Or right now. You know? Just give it to you now. If you keep scoring this many goals, it's practically a given.

Raphinha: To be honest, my personal goal is to win the Champions League with the club and another La Liga title. If I can achieve that, then it would be... sorry, it would be fucking amazing. (laughs) If I can win the Champions League, help win the Champions League, and then win another La Liga title to get back-to-back championships, that would be absolutely the most wonderful thing I've experienced at this club. If we can maintain our current level, we're absolutely capable of competing for these honors strongly.

Presenter: If all of this comes true, and Raphinha keeps scoring, then the 2027 Ballon d'Or will be yours. As for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, who would you give it to? I recall you posted "my Ballon d'Or winner" on social media before, right? You posted a photo of Lamine with "My Ballon d'Or" written on it. You're very confident it has to be Lamine this year, right?

Raphinha: Absolutely, I'm very confident. As I just said, given that this award tends to be given to players with outstanding individual statistics and team honors, Lamine's statistics are excellent. Lamine won trophies with the club, Lamine also won the World Cup...

Presenter: Some people also say...

Raphinha: People would pay any price to watch Lamine play live, and I would too, but now I play alongside him, so I can enjoy his football up close even more. So for me, it's obvious—Lamine should win this award, there's no other option. I'm sorry, but while I respect other candidates, Lamine is way ahead. This award absolutely belongs to him.

Presenter: Sorry to interrupt you just now, I was just going to mention: regarding the World Cup, some people say he didn't play well, even though they won the tournament—his performance was mediocre—so that shouldn't add as many points...

Raphinha: I'm the one who played poorly, I didn't play well. I only played a match and a half. (laughs) We went out in the quarter-finals, and I don't even like thinking about it now because losing hurts too much. But how can someone win the World Cup by playing very badly? I don't understand that argument at all. Well, many people also say that to win the Ballon d'Or, you have to win certain specific trophies. I think winning three trophies is convincing enough, don't you?

Raphinha: His performances on the pitch don't need further explanation, because he does amazing things in almost every match. So for me, there's no other option. There's a Brazilian saying that describes how watching certain people play makes your "eyes light up." When I was a kid, watching Ronaldinho play made my eyes light up like that, and Lamine gives people exactly that feeling now. And he brings so much more than that—he shows endless magic on the pitch, he scores, he assists, and he wins trophies. I think that's enough, isn't it? If that's not enough, then I really don't know what else he needs to do. If this is a fair award, I would absolutely vote for Lamine.

Presenter: Mbappé publicly stated before that he believes he deserves the Ballon d'Or even without winning major team trophies. What do you think about that?

Raphinha: I can only say that my Ballon d'Or winner is Lamine.

Traducido por IA.

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