Raphinha named La Liga’s September player of the month after beating Mbappe

Raphinha has been named La Liga’s player of the month for September after making nine goal contributions for Barcelona during the period.

The Brazil international scored seven goals and provided two assists in league matches across the month, earning the award ahead of Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid, Jonathan David of Atletico de Madrid, Sergio Camello of Rayo Vallecano and Fer Nino of Elche.

The prize recognises Raphinha’s strong start to the campaign with Barcelona, who have won all seven of their league matches and lead La Liga with 21 points.

Injury concern eased

Raphinha was substituted before the second half of Brazil’s 4-2 victory over Australia after suffering an injury. He subsequently left the national team camp and returned to Barcelona for further assessment.

Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported that the forward underwent medical tests on Friday morning to establish the nature of the problem and determine whether he would miss any matches.

The results were described as reassuring, with the tests showing that Raphinha had not suffered an injury. He is therefore expected to be available for Barcelona’s meeting with Getafe after the current international break.

Barcelona are not expected to issue an official statement because no injury has been diagnosed. However, the club will take the necessary precautions when training resumes on Monday.

Raphinha has played eight matches for Barcelona this season, scoring 14 goals in all competitions and setting up three more.

Barcelona’s next La Liga fixture is against Getafe on Saturday, 10 October, in the eighth round of the campaign.