Leeds United’s Raphinha is A Man On a Mission

If you do not believe in love at first sight, you have probably never seen Raphinha play football at Leeds United.

Even in a season where Leeds have struggled to hit the ground running, Raphinha continues to be the shining light and had dazzled and mesmerized fans and rivals alike. His importance to The Whites season just can’t be overstated.

Raphinha introduced himself in style

Raphinha introduced himself to the league in style last season, scoring his first goal in a crucial 1-0 win over Everton to seal all three points for Leeds, it was then that we knew that the Brazilian had that extra bit of magic and flair which was nothing short of extraordinary.

Since then, Raphinha has kept growing in stature with time and continues to hit new levels every single week. His impressive performances were finally noticed by the Brazilian coach, Tite, who called him up for his much-awaited senior team debut in October, he took the opportunity with both hands and shone brightly as he was involved in all 3 goals scored by the Seleção.

📊Brazilian stat leaders in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season:

Goals + Assists: Vinicius Jr (14)
Goals: Vinicius Jr (10)
Assists: Gabriel Jesus (7)
Take ons: Vinicius Jr (56)
Chances created: Raphinha (33)
Tackles: Casemiro (50)
Passes: Thiago Silva (1035) pic.twitter.com/wKyDwfMTGW

— Brasil Football 🇧🇷 (@BrasilEdition) December 20, 2021

The winger insists they are playing better than their results suggest and is adamant they can register the wins they need to improve on their run of just six points from their last eight games.

Raphinha said recently in an interview:

I don’t think we have played bad football.

I think we have had a lot of bad luck and been unable to finish off games. That’s football.

The most important thing is winning games and if you play well, but don’t win, you’re not picking up the three points.

The most important thing is getting those wins to put points on the table to get out of the situation we find ourselves in. ( Via: mirror.co.uk)

While that statement might seem a bit debatable, what can be said for sure is that even though it is the most difficult of times for Leeds United, Raphinha continues to stand up and deliver for the team.

The ongoing injury crisis has seen them lose key players like Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Luke Ayling among many others for extremely long periods.

It has been a serious test for them but Raphinha has done his best to stem the tide, even showcasing his immaculate penalty-taking skills of late, a skill that not many were aware that he possessed.

Raphinha’s last four home games for Leeds United:

⚽️ vs Leicester
⚽️ vs Palace
🅰️ vs Brentford
⚽️ vs Arsenal

Making no mistake from the spot. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/p5845baGvj

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 18, 2021

The reality that Leeds have to admit is that if it continues like this, they are likely going to be involved in a serious relegation battle this season despite the highs of last term.

If it were to come to that, Leeds will always have one weapon on their hands that not many teams around them in the table can boast, a player that can arguably get into the lineup of every single team in the league.

He’s Raphael Dias Belloli, remember the name.