Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Camp Nou on Tuesday night in the fourth round of the Champions League phase, and Raphinha scored both of his team’s first two goals to earn man-of-the-match honors — only to decline, in his post-match interview, to discuss any of it, Kooora reported. The Brazilian captain instead used the platform to send condolences to the family of Jesús de Miguel, the 30-year-old Tenerife striker who died hours earlier after suffering cardiac arrest in a Spanish second-division match.
The contrast defined the evening. On the pitch, Raphinha reached a milestone: with his brace, he became the most prolific Brazilian goalscorer in Barcelona’s Champions League history, moving past Neymar and Rivaldo, according to Kooora. Off it, he said the result did not matter to him.
Raphinha’s Message to the Family of Jesús de Miguel
Speaking to Movistar after the match, Raphinha appeared visibly shaken and said the circumstances made it impossible to focus on football or celebrate the victory. “I don’t want to talk about football,” he said, as carried by the Spanish daily Marca. “I want to send all my support and strength to Jesús’s family, and I hope he rests in peace. Today is not a day to talk about football.”
He added that the news was hard to process before taking the field: “It can happen to anyone. It is very harsh, especially after we learned the news. It is hard to go out and play a match in these circumstances, because it could happen to you or to anyone close to you. Today is not a day to talk about football.”
Hihi2.com reported that Raphinha said he wanted to dedicate the win to Barcelona’s fans but placed his condolences to De Miguel’s family ahead of any discussion of goals or the result, sending “a lot of strength” to the family on behalf of the club.
How Jesús de Miguel Died
De Miguel, a 30-year-old forward for Tenerife, was seriously injured on Monday, Nov. 2, during his team’s Segunda División match against Andorra. According to the Associated Press, as reported by hihi2.com, the incident came in the final minutes with the score at 2-2: Andorra’s goalkeeper came off his line to clear a ball and collided with De Miguel, who was chasing it. De Miguel suffered cardiac arrest, was taken to a hospital, and Tenerife announced his death on Tuesday morning, Nov. 3. The match was halted, and the goalkeeper was sent off after the incident.
The Champions League match at Camp Nou took place later that same Tuesday evening — hours after the death was announced — which is what Raphinha said made playing difficult.
Two Numbers That Frame the Night
The statistical side of the evening was historic for Barcelona. Raphinha’s two goals in the 3-0 win made him the club’s leading Brazilian scorer in the Champions League, surpassing Neymar and Rivaldo, Kooora reported. Yet he declined to elaborate on the achievement or the man-of-the-match award, telling Movistar the day was not suited to celebrating football.
Barcelona’s win over Aston Villa in the league-phase matchday 4 fixture was a valuable result in the competition, but the club’s captain made clear that, for him, the evening belonged to the De Miguel family and to Spanish football’s wider community.
Tenerife Honors Player Amid League Fixtures
Barcelona’s Champions League campaign continues after the matchday 4 win, with the club’s next fixture in the competition to follow on the league-phase schedule. Tenerife, meanwhile, confirmed De Miguel’s death on Tuesday and the Spanish second-division club is expected to observe tributes in its upcoming matches, though no official statement on specific commemorations had been detailed in the reports available.
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