Raphinha scores hat-trick in 100th appearance for Barca
Brazilian winger Raphinha celebrated his 100th appearance for FC Barcelona with a hat-trick goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Zinedine Zidane’s decision to take off Isco at half-time during Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Bayern Munich had tongues wagging but the French tactician insisted it was a change forced upon him as he revealed the Spanish midfielder had gotten injured.
“Isco hurt himself and we brought Marco (Asensio) on in his position,” Zidane explained after the tie in Munich.
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Asensio’s introduction proved to be an inspired one as he combined with Lucas Vazquez to score what turned out to be the winner after capitalising on a error from Bayern Munich defender Rafhina.
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“The plan was to have Lucas (Vazquez) playing further forward and Isco between the lines, but Asensio put a real shift in and did well defensively.”
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“He knows just what to do when in possession. He’s very direct and has an impressive eye for goal. I passed on a few things to him about his defensive duties”.
The last time Zidane made a substitution at half-time was in the previous round against Juventus, when he brought off the likes of Casemiro and Gareth Bale.
And with the Welshman warming the bench for the entirety of the tie on Wednesday, the rumour mills were going into overdrive but Zidane insisted that the club’s record signing is still an important player and will get a chance to play in the future.
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“I have to make choices and I’ve got some very good players in the squad. There are some players who are performing well at the moment. There are still more games to come and I’ll be relying on him. It’s not true that I don’t play him,” Zidane added on the topic of Bale.
Bale, however, seems set for the exit door in the summer and a move back to the Premier League looks to be on the cards, despite Zidane’s insistence that the winger will not be sold.
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