Raphinha To The Rescue: Brazilian Brace Helps Barcelona Extend La Liga Lead

Last Updated:December 14, 2025, 08:38 IST

Raphinha scored twice as Barcelona beat Osasuna 2-0, securing a seventh straight La Liga win and a seven-point lead over Real Madrid.

Barcelona's Raphinha with Marcus Rashford (AP)

Raphinha was the difference once again as Barcelona edged past Osasuna 2-0 on Saturday to stretch their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points.

The Brazilian winger struck twice in the final 20 minutes to hand the Catalans a seventh straight league win — not pretty, but effective.

Barca were far from fluent and lacked their usual sparkle, but they ground out the result and kept their first clean sheet in six matches across all competitions. It was also a perfect five wins from five at their partially reopened Camp Nou.

“Raphinha is very important. He scored two goals and is a key player. He defends and attacks — he’s very important for us," said coach Hansi Flick.

“Maybe we didn’t have many chances, but we scored two goals and got the three points."

Ferran Torres spurned an early opening, firing over from Lamine Yamal’s inviting cross, while Yamal himself saw a couple of efforts beaten away in a frustrating first half. Torres later headed in from Marcus Rashford’s cross, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside, before flashing an acrobatic overhead kick narrowly wide.

Osasuna had moments too, with Barca keeper Joan Garcia denying Ante Budimir before the break.

The breakthrough finally arrived after 70 minutes when Pedri surged forward and teed up Raphinha, who lashed a low strike into the bottom-right corner. Osasuna briefly thought they had equalised, but Jorge Herrando’s effort was ruled out after a collision with Garcia.

Four minutes from time, Raphinha sealed it, tapping in at the back post after Alejandro Catena deflected Jules Kounde’s cross into his path.

Elsewhere in La Liga

Atletico Madrid returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Valencia, thanks to goals from Koke and a superb Antoine Griezmann finish. Espanyol stayed fifth with a 1-0 win at Getafe, while Villarreal’s trip to Levante is likely to be postponed due to storms.

(with AFP inputs)

News sports football Raphinha To The Rescue: Brazilian Brace Helps Barcelona Extend La Liga Lead

Read More