Although Raphinha identified the one and only club that has the potential to prevent Barcelona from winning the Champions League this season, the Brazilian’s prediction for the championship match has already been rendered meaningless.
With 24 goals and 18 assists across all competitions, the former Leeds United player is currently serving as Barcelona’s captain. He has been in sensational form for the team coached by Hansi Flick.
As the Blaugrana finished in second place in the overall table in the Champions League, Raphinha contributed eight goals and four assists to the team’s success. The Blaugrana won six games, drew one, and lost one.
Barcelona will face Benfica in the round of 16 in a rematch of a thrilling nine-goal thriller that took place in January, in which Raphinha scored a last-gasp winner. Only Liverpool had a better record than Barcelona, which will face Benfica in November.
During the month of January, Raphinha shared his thoughts on the Champions League for this season. He also shared his opinion on who he believed Barcelona would face in the championship match, which would take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
“My prediction for the Champions League final is Barcelona versus Manchester City,” Raphinha said in a video that was uploaded to YouTube in January and was created in collaboration with Adri Conteras, a content creator and YouTuber.
A month later, however, City was eliminated from the competition during the knockout play-offs. They were defeated by Real Madrid, the current holders of the competition and the 15-time European champions, by a score of 6-3 throughout the aggregate.
A route that led Barcelona to the final of the Champions League
Barcelona will begin their competition with a two-leg match against Benfica; however, the club is already aware of who they will most likely face in the event that they advance.
If they are victorious, the Catalan giants will advance to the next round, where they will face the team that emerges victorious from the match between Borussia Dortmund and Lille. In the semi-final, they will face either Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Feyenoord, or Inter.
In the event that they are victorious, Barca will have to get ready for a significant confrontation in the championship match that will take place on May 31. A team from England, such as Liverpool or Arsenal, as well as Paris Saint-Germain, which is managed by Luis Enrique, who was their previous manager, could be their opponents.
There is also the possibility that they will face their rivals from La Liga, Real or Atletico, who will continue their Champions League series on Tuesday evening. These two teams were paired together in the round of 16 of the competition.
The competition has been won by Barcelona five times, with their most recent victory coming in 2015, when they defeated Juventus. Enrique was the former coach of Barcelona.
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