Raphinha became the first Brazilian player for Barcelona to score a hat-trick in the Champions League since Neymar in 2013. Ronaldinho and Rivaldo also achieved the milestone, but as superstars at the time.
Raphinha, the Brazilian is not considered a star at the moment. He even intended to leave the Blaugrana this summer. The 27-year-old striker was angry when some Barca fans bought his "number 11" shirt but printed with the name Nico Williams. The Athletic Bilbao winger was strongly linked with Barcelona at the time.
"It's disrespectful. It hurts. People need to respect the players who are here" - Raphinha expressed his emotions before the match with Bayern Munich.
However, none of the 50,312 Barca fans at the Olympic Stadium were disappointed with Raphinha's performance against the "Gray Tigers". Even some Bayern fans reluctantly admired Raphinha's hat-trick.
It’s not been an unusual season for Raphinha either. He scored a hat-trick against Real Valladolid in La Liga and now has nine goals in all competitions and six assists. To put that into perspective, the former Leeds man only managed 10 goals in each of his first two seasons at Barca.
When the final whistle blew, there was a real celebration at the Olympics. Raphinha was tossed into the air by his teammates as he was crowned Man of the Match.
"Raphinha is a very good example of how the team works. He is someone who always gives his all in training and in games. He plays with a very high intensity.
Raphinha is very important for us, the way he presses, and today we saw him score as well" - Hansi Flick commented on his student.
Raphinha's impressive display against Bayern has also raised expectations for a thrilling El Clasico at the Bernabeu this weekend. Raphinha's hat-trick came shortly after Vinicius Junior did the same for Real Madrid, so the two Brazilian wingers are set for an intriguing clash.
"Raphinha is a player who can both defend and attack, with intensity, dynamism, technique... We have a great team and these characteristics suit us perfectly. But I must also emphasize that the whole team has great quality" - Flick added.
