Sevilla head coach Luis García has this weekend admitted that he was left baffled by the omission of Barcelona star Raphinha from the shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or.
This of course comes with García fresh off seeing his side torn apart by the in-form Brazilian.
Barcelona made the trip to Sevilla on Saturday night, eyeing a seventh successive victory to open the defence of their La Liga crown. And when all was said and done, this is precisely what the Blaugrana picked up.
After they fell into an early deficit in Andalusia, the aforementioned Raphinha exploded into life, notching all three of his side’s goals in a 3-1 triumph.
This marked the former Leeds United man’s 2nd successive hat-trick, in the space of just four days.
Just a week on from his absence from the 30-man shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d’Or being confirmed, the aforementioned Luis García therefore made use of the opportunity to speak out in defence of Raphinha:
“There are some things that I can’t understand in football… how is Raphinha out of the Ballon d’Or top 30?! Raphinha not being nominated is something that I don’t understand.”
Conor Laird – GSFN
