Brazil international hoping to return to “the form everyone knows”
Barcelona winger Raphinha has said it was his fault he suffered two setbacks while recovering from injury on the sidelines.
The 27-year-old has not featured for the club since September, when he was forced off during a league game against Real Oviedo, and Barcelona have been forced to navigate a difficult run of fixtures without arguably their most important attacking player.
Over the past two months there were reports at least twice that he was close to a return to action, but then those were followed by updates that he had suffered setbacks. The Brazilian said his desire to rush back into the side may have made matters worse.
“The first relapse was partly my fault, and I can take responsibility for the second one as well,” said Raphinha. “I wanted to be back as quickly as possible, and I made a mistake, hence the relapses.”
“I can take responsibility for that, because in the end, I do things, and if I think they won’t help me, I should be the first to say no. I take responsibility for both relapses because I wanted to be back on the field as soon as possible to help the team.”
The Brazilian described the last two months as “very tough”, as he was forced to watch from the stands while his side struggled in various tricky fixtures, including the 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in October’s clásico.
“It was a difficult time,” said Raphinha. “I’m someone who always wants to be with the team, and spending these two months without being able to play was tough. I hope to return to the form everyone knows.”
