Barcelona forward Raphinha apologised for his angry reaction to being taken off in his side’s 2-2 Europa League draw against Manchester United on Thursday.
Raphinha was withdrawn just after scoring his side’s late equaliser and showed his frustration with the decision as he left the pitch to take his place on the bench. Teammate Jordi Alba had to calm him down.
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“I want to apologise to everyone publicly,” the Brazil international told Movistar after the match at Camp Nou. “To the coach, to Ferran [Torres, who replaced him] and to all the fans.
“We are so desperate to play and help that you lose control in some moments and this can end up happening. We are all human. I made a mistake and I am sorry.”
Despite the draw, the LaLiga leaders did get two bits of bad news in the match. Pedri limped off in the 41st minute with a right thigh injury and Gavi was shown a yellow card in the second half, meaning he will miss the second leg at Old Trafford next Thursday.
As for Raphinha, Barca coach Xavi said he had no problem with the Brazil international’s behaviour. In fact, he said he viewed it as a positive, adding that he would even accept his players insulting him in the heat of the action.
“I perfectly understand [his anger], it happened to me to in my career as well, but I [make decisions] for the good of the team, not to single anyone out,” Xavi said in a news conference.
“He’s come to apologise just now, but he didn’t have to. That’s the attitude to have. I don’t see it as a negative, I see it as a positive. The players can even insult me if they want, seriously!”
With Ousmane Dembele injured, Raphinha once again started on the right of Barca’s attack and it was his cross that caught everyone out to earn Barca a draw.
