Jan 13, 2026
3 min read
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick lauded Raphinha's mentality after the Brazilian haunted Real Madrid once again with two goals in his team's 3-2 Spanish Supercopa final win in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick praised Rafina's attitude after Brazil beat Real Madrid 3-2 in the Spanish Supercopa final in Saudi Arabia with two goals on Sunday.
Rafinha opened and closed the scoring, with Robert Lewandowski adding a goal for Barca, who won their fourth trophy under Flick.Vinicius Junior and Gonzalo Garcia scored for Real Madrid.
Former Leeds United striker Rafinha has scored seven goals in his last six Clasicos, while also providing three assists.
"His mentality is amazing," Flick said of Raphinha, who scored the second goal in the semi-final victory over Athletic Club."He has the energy to influence the whole team. You can see that he missed the first chance he had in the game, but for the second goal he was there, he scored the first goal and gave the team more confidence.
"That's what he brings. Rafa is solid on the court, and we need that."
Raphinha has now scored eight goals in ten games since returning from injury at the end of November.
His return also coincided with Barca's best performance of the season.With Sunday's win against Madrid, the league leaders have won 10 games in a row in all competitions.
Raphinha praised Flick for his performance since the German coach took over 18 months ago.
"[Flick] changed everything for me here," Raphinha said."I left the club when he was appointed. The importance of what he said to me, to tell me that I am important ... this is what you need, someone who appreciates your work.
"He gave me what I needed at the moment, which allowed me to focus on working hard and give my best for the team."
Barca won three consecutive finals against Madrid for the first time - two Super Cups and one Copa del Rey.Including last season's La Liga title, Barca have won the last four titles in Spanish football.
Even so, Raphinha insists the team still has an appetite for more hardware, with LaLiga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey still to be won.
"When you wear this shirt, the main goal is always to win trophies. We are doing well. We have a lot of young players with such a winning mentality, which is good for the club. We want to fight and win trophies," said Raphinha."We can improve on last year. The team has matured. We can continue [to build] on what we did last season. It's more on us than anybody else. We have to stay focused. We know what we want."
