Raphinha named LaLiga Player of the Month for September after seven-goal run

Raphinha has rounded off September in style. The FC Barcelona attacker has been voted LaLiga's Player of the Month by fans, an award that arrives just hours after tests confirmed his right hamstring issue is not serious. The Brazilian has now collected the honour in back-to-back months, having also been named the standout player in August.

• Raphinha picks up the LaLiga Player of the Month award for September, his second consecutive monthly honour.
• He scored seven goals and provided two assists in four matches, including back-to-back hat-tricks.
• Medical tests showed only bruising in the back of his right hamstring.
• Hansi Flick was voted Coach of the Month and Barcelona sit top with 21 points.

Raphinha adds another LaLiga monthly award to his collection

The Brazilian received the prize after a vote held through the competition's official website. The winger, reinvented this season by Hansi Flick as a false nine with freedom to drift across the front line, has once again won over supporters. It is the third time in his career that Raphinha has earned the award: he first claimed it in August 2024 and has now followed that up with the August and September prizes in the current campaign.

The Porto Alegre native saw his time with the Brazil national team cut short by discomfort in his right leg, a setback that came after an outstanding start to the season in Barcelona colours. Despite the initial concern, scans carried out at the club's facilities ruled out any major injury and confirmed only bruising in the back of the hamstring.

Seven goals and two assists in a stunning month

Raphinha's displays throughout September explain the award on their own. Across the four matches Barcelona played, the Brazilian international celebrated seven goals and delivered two assists, numbers that establish him as one of the most decisive attackers in European football at this stage of the season.

His goalscoring burst peaked in the final two games of the month. Against Racing de Santander he recorded a hat-trick in a commanding 7-2 win, and three days later he repeated the feat away to Sevilla, where Barça triumphed 3-1. Back-to-back LaLiga hat-tricks are a rare achievement and underline the exceptional form the Brazilian is enjoying.

Leading scorer and a reinvented role under Flick

Raphinha has started every LaLiga match he has played under Flick and tops the competition's scoring charts with 12 goals. His link-up play, his runs in behind and his finishing around the box have turned the German coach's tactical gamble into one of the stories of the season.

The change of role has multiplied his presence in shooting positions without taking away his instinct to take players on. Operating in a hybrid position between winger and striker, the Brazilian is producing the best numbers of his career and driving much of the attacking output of a Barcelona side that has not dropped a single point so far in the league.

Barcelona sweep the monthly awards with Flick and Cancelo

Raphinha's recognition is part of a wider sweep for the club. Days earlier, Hansi Flick was named Coach of the Month for September, a prize that confirms the immediate impact the German has had on the Barcelona dugout. The team has won every match played and leads the standings outright with 21 points.

Alongside the individual honours for coach and player, the Goal of the Month award also went to a Barcelona name. Joao Cancelo received the prize for his strike against Racing de Santander, a goal scored in the same emphatic victory that featured Raphinha's hat-trick. It completed a clean sweep for the Catalan club in the competition's latest monthly awards.

A muscle scare that does not slow down the leaders

The only negative note of the month came with the Brazilian national team. Raphinha left the squad and returned to Barcelona for tests that confirmed the issue in the back of his right leg. The diagnosis was reassuring: bruising that does not jeopardise his availability in the medium term and that the club's medical staff will manage to get him back on the pitch as soon as possible.

Barcelona have reasons for calm on two fronts. Their main attacking weapon has not suffered a serious injury, while the team holds a healthy cushion at the top of the table and the upcoming schedule allows his recovery to be managed carefully. The objective is clear: to have Raphinha ready to extend a start to the season that has made him the standout figure in LaLiga.