Raphinha: "I'd be lying if I said the Ballon d'Or wasn't on my mind."

The Barça winger, interviewed by former Barça player Romario on his TV channel, clarified that "thinking too much about him can become a distraction," but believes that "if I achieve my goals, the possibility of winning an individual award will be very high."

Raphinha , the star of a spectacular season, is already being asked about the Ballon d'Or by Romario on his TV channel. And from Barça star to Barça legend, the confession came. "It's normal for it to cross my mind, and if I told you otherwise, I'd be lying. But I try to put it aside and focus on my personal goals in my career, whether it's scoring goals, providing assists, or winning titles," explained the Barça striker, halfway between caution and logical ambition. On the program, he performed the ritual of touching Romario 's legs to force him to transfer his powers to him.

"I think if I achieve all the goals I wrote down in my notebook by the end of the season, the chance of winning an individual award will be very high," Raphinha added along the same lines, "but I don't like to focus too much on the Ballon d'Or, because thinking about it too much can become a distraction. My main objective is to score goals, create chances, win titles, and enjoy playing."

Romario reminded him that his eleven Champions League goals are the record for a Brazilian in a single edition. "The truth is, I didn't even know I was so close to reaching those figures. I found out when they told me, and it was a total surprise... I'm so happy to have achieved it," replied Raphinha , who proclaimed that "I'm having a great time at Barcelona. I can't describe it, it's incredible." So much so that he didn't prioritize winning the World Cup with Brazil over winning the Champions League with Barça: "Both."

Of Barça, he confessed that his best friend in the dressing room is Lamine Yamal , "an exceptional talent. Amazing. For me, it depends on him, but he has everything it takes to break records and win individual awards for years. It all depends on him." He also praised Robert Lewandowski: "He's a goal machine, there's no doubt about that. He knows how to position himself, and it's no coincidence that during his three seasons at Barcelona, he scored more than 20 goals every season. It's not easy at all."

En Clave de Brasil revealed that " Neymar and Ronaldinho were a huge inspiration for me. I didn't get to watch much of Ronaldinho when I played because I was too young. But with YouTube, I was able to watch videos of him and other players like Rivaldo and Ronaldo ." And he acknowledged that "I spoke to Neymar  and he asked me what my favorite number was. I told him 11, because I've had it since I was little and I grew up watching Neymar and Ronaldinho ."