Mundo Deportivo: Raphinha's perfect penalty record built on never repeating shot direction

According to Mundo Deportivo, Raphinha has missed only 1 of 22 penalties throughout his career, a statistic attributed to his unique strategy of varying his shot direction and never easily repeating it. Since joining Barcelona, he has been perfect with 13 out of 13 penalties in official matches.

Penalties have become a psychological battle between the kicker and the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers are often seen studying notes that record the kicker's shooting tendencies. Penalties are no longer purely a "gamble"; they have transcended the technical aspect, with extensive research behind every shot. The 29-year-old Raphinha is well aware of this. He has taken 22 penalties in his career, missing only one—in 2017 when he was playing for Vitória Guimarães.

Since joining Barcelona, Raphinha has maintained a distinctive approach at the penalty spot that was broken against Racing Santander: he had never repeated his shot direction before. There was only one exception, a "Panenka" penalty against Sevilla. Raphinha's efficiency at Barcelona is flawless: 13 attempts, 13 goals. Although he varies his approach for some penalties, he doesn't stray too far from his core technique, usually opting for a low, powerful shot close to the post.

A few weeks ago, Ancelotti described him as the Brazilian national team's best penalty taker. Raphinha took his first penalty for Barcelona in the 2023/24 season against Real Sociedad, shooting low to the bottom right corner. His previous penalty had been two years earlier when he played for Leeds United. His next opportunity was for Brazil against Peru, where he took two penalties, one to each side, and converted both.

For his next penalty at Barcelona, he chose to shoot to the right. Since then, he has never repeated the direction. Against Colombia, he shot to the left; against Celta, to the right; against Villarreal, to the left. At the beginning of last season, he shot to the right against Copenhagen, then to the left against Atlético Madrid. A "Panenka" penalty temporarily interrupted this alternating pattern.

After that, he resumed his rhythm: against Sevilla, he shot to the left. In pre-season friendlies at the end of last season, he shot to the right against Nottingham Forest, to the left against Al Ahly in the Gamper Trophy, and to the right again against Elche. In the league match against Racing Santander last weekend, he unusually repeated his choice to shoot to the right. On the second penalty, facing a psychological battle with goalkeeper Agirrezabala, he again chose the right side. The goalkeeper dove to the opposite side.

Since Raphinha joined Barcelona, the Brazilian forward has become the second player to take the most penalties for the team in official matches. Only Lewandowski has taken more, with 16 converted out of 19 attempts. Yamal is third with 7 out of 9. Olmo has converted both of his two penalties. Ferran missed one, while Pedri, Fati, Kessie, and Gündoğan each scored one.

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