Barcelona winger Raphinha mentioned that he understood Lamine Yamal’s indignant response to being substituted “very nicely” after he was taken off in Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta within the Champions League on Wednesday.
The draw means Barcelona completed second within the 36-team league, making certain a bye by means of the play-off spherical.
However they had been pegged again twice, having initially taken the lead on Wednesday, with Yamal scoring the opening objective of the sport. {The teenager} appeared pissed off at being withdrawn within the second half, however Raphinha insisted there have been no issues.
“He’s a spectacular participant, it’s comprehensible that he will get indignant. I perceive his anger at not ending the sport as a result of it has occurred to me many instances,” he mentioned.
“However he did very nicely, he helped the workforce and scored a objective. I attempt to assist him and I can say that I’m very pleased along with his efficiency immediately and all through the season.”
Whereas Raphinha acknowledged the frustration of not managing to win the sport, he recommended that “now we have to see the standard of our opponents”.
“Atalanta defended nicely after which took their possibilities. We handed the primary part, we’re pleased, and now now we have to place our heads in La Liga.
“Working the entire subject one-on-one is a bit boring, however we needed to do our factor. We tried to do our factor, however in the long run we took some extent,” he mentioned.
7 – FC Barcelona have gained seven of their final eight UEFA Champions League residence video games (L1), scoring 25 targets, with their solely defeat coming in opposition to PSG in final 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 ending second place was an overwhelmingly constructive consequence.
“I’m proud of the second place within the league part. I believe it’s an excellent success for the workforce. At the moment was a tough recreation,” mentioned Flick.
“I believe we might have achieved a bit higher, however general we’re happy with the outcome and qualifying as second. It was positively an excellent soccer match as a result of Atalanta defended nicely one-on-one, and we discovered quite a bit from this recreation with a view to the long run.
“That’s what now we have to enhance, the defensive work. We’re pleased to complete on this place, however now we have to work on many issues. We’ve the potential to do one thing extra, and now we can have an additional week to have the ability to do extra coaching.”