The Brazilian has just recorded back-to-back hat-tricks, has 14 goals in his first eight competitive matches of the season and has become the main attacking reference for Hansi Flick's team.
Barcelona Fears for Raphinha
Raphinha is going through arguably the most explosive spell of his career, and Barcelona has every reason to hope that nothing interrupts his remarkable form.
Now, he will have to change shirts once again.
Carlo Ancelotti has called up the forward for the three friendlies Brazil will play during the upcoming international window: two against Australia, on September 25 and 29, followed by another against India on October 3.
The tour will take Raphinha from Barcelona to Australia and then to Kolkata before he begins his journey back to Spain.
And that is where the concern begins.
Recent Call-Ups Have Brought Bad News
Barcelona's concern is not simply about the enormous number of miles one of its most important players will have to travel.
There is a very recent precedent.
In March, Raphinha joined Brazil for friendlies against France and Croatia, but his international window ended prematurely.
The forward felt discomfort during the first half of the match against France in Boston, and subsequent tests carried out by the CBF confirmed an injury to the biceps femoris in his right thigh.
Raphinha immediately returned to Barcelona, with the club itself estimating a recovery period of approximately five weeks.
Three months later, another problem emerged.
During the match against Haiti at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Brazilian suffered another muscle injury in the back of his right thigh.
The injury kept him out of the final group-stage match and Brazil's subsequent knockout games. Although he managed to return to training before the match against Norway, he ultimately did not play again in the tournament.
Raphinha Leaves in the Best Form of His Career
The timing of this latest international call-up could hardly be more delicate for Barcelona.
Flick found a solution at center forward in Raphinha, and the Brazilian's response has been extraordinary.
After recording two consecutive hat-tricks, the forward has 14 goals in eight matches across all competitions, with 12 of them coming in LaLiga.
Barcelona itself confirmed that no player in club history had ever started a season with as many goals after eight matches. The Brazilian even surpassed the record of César Rodríguez, who scored 13 at the beginning of the 1948-49 campaign.
This is more than just a good run of form.
At the moment, a significant part of the team's attacking power runs through him.
A Tour Barcelona Will Be Watching Closely
According to Sport, the full itinerary of this international window will require Raphinha to travel approximately 34,000 kilometers between Brazil's different commitments.
The CBF confirmed that the training camp will begin in Brisbane. The national team will then travel to Townsville for the first match against Australia, return to Brisbane for the second and later head to Kolkata to face India.
For Brazil, these matches represent the beginning of a new cycle following the World Cup, and Ancelotti wants to use them to begin building his team toward the 2028 Copa América and the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
For Barcelona, however, there is another unavoidable priority: getting Raphinha back in the same condition in which he leaves.
His recent injury history perfectly explains the concern.
Reuters reported during the World Cup that the injury suffered against Haiti represented the Brazilian's fourth muscular problem in approximately a year. During the previous season, he had missed 23 matches for Barcelona because of different physical issues.
Now he leaves with 14 goals, established as the team's most decisive forward and enjoying a run of form the club does not want to see interrupted.
Barcelona cannot prevent Raphinha from traveling halfway around the world to represent Brazil.
All it can do is hope that, this time, he returns without having to visit the treatment room first.
Raphael Dias Belloli
FC Barcelona
