Rafinha's brace helped Barcelona to a resounding victory; afterwards, he emphasized the need to guard against ups and downs in a long season.

In the first round of the Champions League stage, Barcelona, playing at the Camp Nou, defeated Dutch powerhouse Feyenoord 5-1, achieving a winning start in European competition.

Brazilian striker Rafinha continued his hot streak, scoring twice more to bring his season total to 8 goals in 5 appearances across all competitions. With Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres leaving the club in the summer, Rafinha has been promoted to the forefront of the attack as a center forward and has been given the captain's armband.

Rafinha broke the deadlock just three minutes into the game with a brilliant run and a skillful shot, and in the second half, he calmly slotted home a through ball from Pedri to complete his brace. Karam Andemi, Ramin Yamar, and new signing Gabriel Jesus, who came on as a substitute, also contributed to the victory.

In a post-match interview, Rafinha attributed the team's excellent performance to the home atmosphere and execution: "Playing in front of our home fans, we always have to show perfect or near-perfect football. With their support, everything becomes much easier."

"From the very beginning, we controlled the tempo of the game and converted the chances we created into goals, which gave the whole team a lot of confidence."

Despite Barcelona's perfect start to the new season with five wins in five matches and four games with five goals each, the captain remained calm and composed in an interview: "Such a strong start obviously gives us a lot of confidence, and we must continue to maintain it."

"But in such a long season, any team will experience ups and downs. The only thing we need to do now is to do everything we can to minimize the impact when the slump comes."

Image source: Internet/Barcelona official website