Barcelona star breaks "staggering" club record previously held by Lionel Messi - will he also win the Ballon d'Or?

Barcelona were held to a 3-3 draw against Inter Milan in the Champions League last night. The game was nothing short of sensational - but one Barca player rose above the rest with a gladiatorial performance.

The performance of Brazilian winger Raphinha drew praise from fans and pundits alike, with the ex-Leeds United star being directly involved in two of the goals. He assisted Ferran Torres for Barca’s second goal, passing the ball across the box to him, and launched a rocket shot from long-range for the third goal (which ultimately went down as an own goal from Yann Sommer).

With his efforts, he ended up breaking a club record previously set by arguably the greatest footballer in history, Lionel Messi.

Up until now, Messi held the record at Barcelona for the most goal contributions in a single Champions League campaign. During the 2011/12 season, the Argentine forward racked up 14 goals and five assists to tally up 19 goal involvements.

Following the first leg of the semi-final against Inter Milan, Raphinha has 20 goal involvements, with 12 goals and eight assists.

It has once again put Raphina back into the conversation for the Ballon d’Or, given to the best player over the course of the year. At the time of publication, it’s thought that Raphinha, Barca teammate Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr are the favourites to win.

But former winner Ruud Gullit, who played for the likes of PSV, AC Milan and Chelsea, believes another player could be in contention for the award. He said: “Aside from Lamine Yamal, who will win the Ballon d’Or in the next 10 years? That’s a tough question. I really like [Desire] Doue from PSG. He’s young too, it could be him.”