Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. However, Raphinha sees no reason for panic and stresses that this defeat should not affect the team ahead of the big clash with Real Madrid.
After the match, Raphinha spoke at the press conference, where he analysed the team’s performance, acknowledged the difficulty of facing PSG and sent a clear message ahead of El Clasico.
“We knew this could happen. We were facing a side that has won the Champions League twice, and playing in front of their fans is very difficult. We wanted to get the win or at least a point, but it’s not the end of the world. Defeats like this happen and, at the end of the day, we only lost three points,” the Brazilian said.
The forward also emphasised that the team must analyse its mistakes and prepare as well as possible for the next challenge against Real Madrid.
“We will see what the coach tells us to improve our play and be ready for El Clasico,” he added.
Despite the 4-2 defeat, Raphinha praised the performance of the Catalan side, stressing that Barcelona showed they can compete even against Europe’s strongest teams.
“This is a very well-managed team. Regardless of the result, we played well. Both teams like to play with the ball and we managed to keep possession. It was a good test and we showed we can compete. The result is what it is, but I think we played well. This defeat should not affect us in any way ahead of the match with Real Madrid,” Raphinha concluded.