Manchester United Substitution Tantrum Leads To Raphinha Being Dropped By FC Barcelona Manager Xavi

The tantrum that FC Barcelona winger Raphinha had after being substituted against Manchester United, in the first leg of their Europa League playoff, led to the player being dropped by Xavi Hernandez for a reason that has finally come to light.

Raphinha was in good form against the Red Devils, providing the assist for Marcos Alonso’s headed opener and equalizing after Barca had gone 2-1 down.

When brought off in the 82nd minute, however, Raphinha had a tantrum which saw him kick a drinks refrigerator as he wanted to play the duration of the fixture.

The Brazilian apologized to his team, replacement Ferran Torres, and manager Xavi who said: “I understand Raphinha’s anger.”

“I have done it for the good of the team, I never make changes to target anyone,” Xavi explained.

“He has apologized to me, but he doesn’t have to. I always ask my players for ambition and he has been [ambitious]. It also bothered me when they replaced me,” the legendary midfielder explained, in a nod to his own playing days.

Be that as it may, Raphinha was still dropped for Barca’s next match – a 2-0 win over Cadiz where Torres was given the nod as the only pure winger that Xavi’s four-man midfield system allows.

As revealed by Mundo Deportivo, however, Raphinha’s snub wasn’t a punishment for misconduct but rather due to an unfortunate injury he picked up kicking the fridge.

Raphinha started the second leg against United and was hugely ineffective as Barca took an early lead then squandered it to lose 2-1.

The 26-year-old could only look on while his positional rival in the Brazil national team Antony scored the winner which sentenced the Catalans to a 4-3 aggregate loss.

On Sunday, though, it is expected that Xavi will ditch the four man midfield system and return to a 4-3-3 for the away trip to Almeira.

This will mean that Torres and Raphinha man the left and right wings respectively. Yet Raphinha would be wise to watch his form and attitude with Ousmane Dembele’s return from injury also on the horizon.