Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha shared a reunion on the pitch at Camp Nou on Wednesday following the mid-season friendly between Barcelona and Manchester City. The two clubs organised the one-off match in order to raise money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable neurodegenerative disease.
Both Phillips and Raphinha started the game, with the former playing around 55 minutes before going off with a shoulder injury, and the latter getting 75 minutes of action. It was the first time the two players will have seen each other since the end of last season, when both played key roles in helping Leeds narrowly avoid relegation.
Phillips made the switch to Man City before he was required to return to pre-season training, while Raphinha did not return to Thorp Arch until much later than everyone else due to speculation. Eventually he secured his dream move to Barcelona after many weeks of long drawn-out negotiations.
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The two sides ended up playing out an entertaining 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou, with Julian Alvarez opening the scoring for City before a Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang equaliser. Frenkie de Jong then put the hosts in front for a brief period as Cole Palmer brought it back to 2-2.
Memphis Depay thought he had won it for Xavi’s side but a controversial Riyad Mahrez penalty ensured it ended honours even. Raphinha posted a photo on Instagram with him alongside both Phillips and his international teammate, captioning it: “Good to see you my brothers.”
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