Raphinha set for 76,761km football journey across 98 days

Raphinha will have travelled 76,761km in 98 days by the time he returns to Barcelona from La Coruna later this month – almost two trips around the Earth.

The Barcelona forward is currently in Singapore with Brazil for two friendlies before travelling to Azerbaijan and La Coruna with his club.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Raphinha has surpassed the fictional Willy Fog’s famous journey around the world in 80 days, despite not wearing the character’s hat or bow tie. The shortest possible route around the planet along the equator is 40,075km.

His total will reach almost two circumnavigations of the globe when he plays his first match at Riazor against Deportivo La Coruna on 29 November.

Since Barcelona began their La Liga season against Elche on 23 August, Raphinha has covered 19,838km on club duty and 53,923km while representing Brazil. His upcoming return journey from Singapore will be followed, only five days later, by a 7,916km flight to Baku for Barcelona’s Champions League fixture.

After that match, he will travel a further 2,170km to La Coruna. Despite the demands of his schedule, Raphinha has scored 19 goals for Barcelona this season.

The workload has raised concerns after he suffered three muscle injuries during his three most recent appearances for Brazil. An agreement was reached with manager Carlo Ancelotti to manage the number of minutes he plays.

At the end of September, after travelling 18,350km and playing two friendlies in Australia, Raphinha developed muscle oedema in his right thigh. He returned after two weeks in the match against Real Betis and played only one hour against Paris Saint-Germain.

The decision to limit his involvement came after he avoided a 4,468km journey the previous week for the match against Galatasaray in Istanbul.

Raphinha’s listed journeys

His travel schedule is recorded as follows:

– 23 August: Barcelona-Elche and return, 530km each way. – 5 and 12 September: Barcelona-Valencia and return, 348km each way on both occasions. – 19 September: Barcelona-Sevilla and return, 993km each way. – 21 September: Barcelona-Townsville, 15,873km; 26 September: Townsville-Melbourne, 2,477km; 30 September: Melbourne-Barcelona, 16,827km. – 16 October: Barcelona-Sevilla and return, 993km each way. – 19 October: Barcelona-Paris and return, 1,038km each way. – 8 November: Barcelona-Madrid and return, 626km each way. – 11 November: Barcelona-Singapore, 10,873km; 18 November: Singapore-Barcelona, 10,873km. – 23 November: Barcelona-Baku, 3,958km; 25 November: Baku-Barcelona, 3,958km. – 28 November: Barcelona-La Coruna, 1,085km; 29 November: La Coruna-Barcelona, 1,085km.