Key Barcelona star’s injury has had an unexpected positive effect on Hansi Flick’s team – report

A significant Barcelona star's injury has unexpectedly benefited Hansi Flick's team, according to a report by Diario SPORT. Raphinha, the Brazilian forward and club captain, suffered an injury during international duty with Brazil. Despite his absence, Flick's team has demonstrated greater independence from individual goal scorers.

Five Barcelona players opened their goal-scoring accounts across three matches where Raphinha was either unavailable or not on the starting lineup. Rodri, Anthony Gordon, Dani Olmo, Jules Kounde, and Eric Garcia all found the net during this period. Barcelona now boasts 13 different goal scorers across their opening 11 competitive matches, an impressive feat considering the summer departures of Lewandowski, Torres, and Rashford.

The midfielder Rodri highlighted the importance of shared goal-scoring responsibility, stating, "We are all important. We don’t have a player who can score 50 or 60 goals, so everyone has to contribute to the goalscoring." Lamine Yamal has maintained his impressive form, registering nine goals and 10 assists so far this season. While Raphinha's significance to Barcelona cannot be understated, particularly due to his goals, pressing, and leadership, his absence has shown Flick's team's ability to continue thriving without solely relying on their captain.

With upcoming matches against PSG and Real Madrid, the entire attack will need to contribute for Barcelona to secure victories and maintain their perfect run. The emergence of various goal scorers also makes Barcelona more challenging to defend against, as opponents can no longer solely focus on stopping Raphinha and Yamal.