Raphinha set to watch Brazil’s Singapore friendly from the stands after red card

Brazil captain Raphinha will remain with the squad in Singapore despite being suspended for Tuesday’s friendly against Singapore, delaying his return to Barcelona.

The Barcelona forward was sent off during Brazil’s match against Japan and will serve a one-match suspension in the national team’s second fixture at the National Stadium in Singapore.

Raphinha played 71 minutes before being dismissed in a dramatic conclusion to the match. He and Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti were both shown red cards after protesting Japan’s late goal, which followed a clear foul against Joao Gomes.

Ancelotti will also be unable to take his place on the bench for Tuesday’s match. Brazil must therefore decide which member of the coaching staff will take charge of the team during the fixture.

The usual course of action would have been to remove Raphinha from the squad once he became unavailable, allowing him to return to Barcelona early. That is a practice the Brazilian Football Confederation has followed in friendly matches and South American World Cup qualifiers.

However, Brazil have decided against doing so in this case.

Rodrigo Caetano, the general executive coordinator of Brazil’s men’s national teams, confirmed the decision in the mixed zone at the National Stadium in Singapore.

“Raphinha will stay. For now, he will continue with us… It makes no sense for him to leave, because he is one of our captains,” Caetano told reporters.

He said a decision on Ancelotti’s replacement on the touchline would be made later.

“We will settle that later, calmly, and study who can replace the manager in the best possible way, because we have a highly qualified coaching staff with many good names, and we will share the responsibilities among them,” he added.

Unless the situation changes, Raphinha will remain in Brazil’s Singapore camp until after Tuesday’s match, which he will watch from the stands.

That means he will not be able to begin the journey back to Barcelona before the game. The flight covers about 11,000 kilometres and takes more than 12 hours.

The delay will also affect the start of Raphinha’s preparations and his adjustment back to Barcelona’s local time. Singapore is seven hours ahead of the Catalan city.

Barcelona’s next La Liga fixture is on Sunday, 22 November, when they host Villarreal at Spotify Camp Nou.

A week later, Hansi Flick’s side face their longest journey in the opening phase of the Champions League. They are due to play Sabah FC at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on Wednesday, 25 November.

That trip is expected to cover about 4,000 kilometres, with air travel taking more than five hours.