FC Barcelona v FC Internazionale - UEFA Champions League Group B
The Brazilian impressed while playing in the right attacking position against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League in midweek. He played 72 minutes and picked up a goal and Valverde will most certainly look at Rafinha to fill the gigantic void left by Messi's absence in the El Clasico.
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This season, the Brazilian has played 5 games and scored 1 goal. He has played just 59 minutes in the La Liga, starting just 1 game and appearing as a substitute in the other for 2 minutes only. However, both those appearances were as a part of the central midfield. He has also spent 2 more games on the bench.
The game against Inter was the first time that Rafinha had started in the right attacking position and the Brazilian looked lively from the start. It was already a tough ask to fill Messi's boot, but Rafinha performed admirably on the night.
He had an effort saved, before scoring the opening goal and perhaps did just enough to be in contention to start the El Clasico. Whether he can have a similar impact against Real Madrid remains to be seen.
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Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.
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