Staff Reporter.
Raphinha scored once and played a role in two other goals as Barcelona beat Getafe 4-0 to provisionally move into second place in the Spanish league on Saturday.
Raphinha opened the scoring for the hosts, with Joao Felix, another player recalled to the Barca starting XI, adding the second just after the break.
Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez rounded off the scoring for Xavi’s side.
“I am especially happy because I was having fewer minutes since coming back from injury, but the most important thing is the win that keeps us alive in the league,”Raphinha said. “It is a privilege to compete with Lamine … Watching Lamine play so well makes me play better. And I am sure that he feels the same way.”
Barca now sit five points behind leaders Real Madrid and they are one point ahead of third-placed Girona.
Real host Sevilla on Sunday (20:00 GMT) and look to extend their unbeaten record to 30 matches in all competitions, while Girona face Rayo Vallecano on Monday (20:00 GMT).
Both Real and Girona have a game in hand on Barcelona.
“We played a very complete game both in defence and attack, I’m satisfied with the performance and the result, now we’ll wait to see what Girona and Real do…” Xavi told Movistar Plus.