Raphinha lashes out at Xavi Hernández: "I felt he didn't trust me"

Raphinha has become one of the most important players at FC Barcelona, but this time last year, he was considering quitting the club. The reason? The coach and technical staff did not believe in him. And on Monday, speaking in a YouTube interview for Isabela Pagliari, he has spoken about his differences with Xavi Hernández, talking quite unfavourably about the Barça legend who didn't quite work as a manager.

"I felt like neither he nor the coaching staff trusted me" he said. "When there was no one else, I was there and played the full 90 minutes. I gave everything I had to and won the matches, but when there was someone else who could play in my place, they put him without thinking".

He talked about his anger when he was substituted first, and recalls a moment that became viral when he threw a punch when he was the first substituted in a match against Manchester United, where he had scored once and created an assist. "I was feeling comfortable and playing really well. And I was the first substitution. When I saw it, I couldn't believe it".

He told that he tried to fix his relationship with Xavi, to no result. "I tried to fix it, I had several conversations with him, but I saw that these didn't make any difference. He had his way of thinking." By contrast, he only has good things to say about current coach Hansi Flick: "He is a person who cares about all the players, those he plays with and those he doesn't play with."

This season with Flick, Raphinha has played twice more minutes than he did last season with Xavi, and has scored 31 goals and provided 25 assists, making him one of the potential candidates for Ballon d'Or. Will he make a difference tonight against Inter?