Neymar left fuming over controversy surrounding Leeds United hero Raphinha

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Leeds United hero Raphinha has played alongside Neymar 12 times for Brazil, but the two share a friendship already.

Raphinha initially wore the No.22 shirt for Barcelona after his move from Leeds United, but he soon switched to Neymar’s No.11, which is what he currently continues to appear in.

Neymar finished third for the Ballon d’Or, only behind Messi and Ronaldo, in both 2015 and 2017. His Brazilian teammate Raphinha was a serious contender to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday night, too.

Raphinha was predicted to finish fifth in Ballon d’Or voting by experts. In the end, despite many of the predictions for others being wrong Raphinha did actually end up in fifth for the Ballon d’Or behind the likes of Mo Salah and Ousmane Dembele.

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Neymar reacts to Raphinha’s Ballon d’Or placing

The 2025 Ballon d’Or was the 69th annual ceremony of the award, recognising the best footballers in the world during the 2024/25 season. In terms of the 28-year-old, he had 59 goal involvements in 57 games for Barcelona last term.

He’s been that impressive that Barcelona and Arsenal icon Thierry Henry believed Raphinha would win the Ballon d’Or. That didn’t come to fruition despite the numerous accolades he collected last term.

Not only did his side win a domestic treble, but he was also 2024/25 La Liga Player of the Season and collected the most goals and most assists in last year’s UEFA Champions League.

Leeds fans were fuming with Raphinha’s final placing but perhaps nowhere near as much as Neymar. The iconic footballing figure reacted to an Instagram post, criticising the verdict.

“Raphinha in fifth is too much of a joke,” Neymar wrote, making his view clear on what he considers a blatant injustice for just how low Raphinha ended up being.

It wasn’t a total waste of an evening for the former Leeds ace, with Raphinha meeting hero Ronaldinho at the Ballon d’Or ceremony. Alongside Raphinha and Neymar, he is one of the greatest Brazilian footballers to play for Barcelona.

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A list of Raphinha’s 2024/25 achievements

TNT Sports posted on X (formerly Twitter) with a list of Raphinha’s achievements last season, which showcases why he had such a strong claim to take home the award despite Dembele and Lamine Yamal’s brilliance.

Raphinha won La Liga, won the Copa del Rey, won the Supercopa de Espana, while also being voted as La Liga Player of the Season. He also had the most Champions League goals (13) and most Champions League assists (8).

That meant he equalled the record for most goal involvements in a Champions League campaign. For Brazil and Barcelona, Raphinha registered 62 goal involvements across 64 matches.