Mundo Deportivo: Raphinha extremely important to Barcelona's defensive tactics

The appearance of Barcelona's Raphinha not only makes Barcelona's attack more threatening, but also makes the team's confrontation success rate on the defensive end higher.

The report claims that Raphinha's contribution to Barcelona this season is crucial, and his role in both offense and defense is very prominent.

Although Barcelona suffered a crushing defeat at the Metropolitano Stadium, the team was missing two core players at the time: Pedri and Raphinha. Pedri still needs time to recover, while Raphinha is actively preparing for the game against Levante on February 22. The Brazilian winger's comeback is getting closer and closer. He has resumed joint training on Saturday and is expected to complete the team's joint training before the game against Girona, and is expected to enter the list for the away game against Girona, even if it may not be a starter.

Facts have proved that when Raphinha is absent, Barcelona's performance declines significantly. Barcelona has lost a total of 6 games this season, and these losses have almost all occurred when Raphinha was absent or his state was limited: he missed 5 of them due to injury, and in another game against Chelsea, he only came on as a substitute for 28 minutes when the team was 0-3 behind.

With or without Raphinha, the team's performance is worlds apart, and it can even be said that "no Raphinha, no carnival." His impact goes far beyond the score. Comparing Barcelona's game content when Raphinha is on the field and when he is absent, it is clear that the team performs better overall when he is on the field. When Raphinha is absent, Barcelona's offensive efficiency drops significantly, making it easier for opponents to create threats. All of this is supported by data.

Raphinha has missed 15 games this season, and his injury situation is not ideal. Data shows that without this winger, Barcelona's average goal per game is only 2.33 goals, while it rises to 2.82 goals when he is on the field. Even more surprising is the defensive data: Barcelona concedes an average of 1.8 goals per game when he is absent, while it is only 0.77 goals when he is on the field. The total number of shots by Barcelona is similar, but the number of shots on target and shooting efficiency are significantly improved when Raphinha is on the field, which is also in line with expectations.

It is worth noting that when Raphinha is absent, Barcelona's defensive problems are very prominent. The average number of shots on target by opponents has increased from 3.82 to 4.47, and the goalkeeper's save success rate has dropped from 79.76% to 59.7%, which also directly explains the previous goal data.

Raphinha can not only deter opponents, but also undertake a lot of defensive dirty work. When Raphinha is on the field, Barcelona's defensive confrontation success rate increases from 61.15% to 63.15%, and the number of steals and interceptions is also higher.

Almost all of Barcelona's defeats this season have occurred when they were unable to field Raphinha or he was unable to perform to his full potential. The good news is that the comeback of this Barcelona core player is imminent. Raphinha's condition is getting better every day, and Flick is also eagerly awaiting his return.