Raphinha declined to talk about Barcelona's win over Aston Villa, despite a standout display that brought him two goals and the man of the match award.
The Brazilian scored twice to lead Barça to a precious 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Tuesday evening at the Camp Nou, in the fourth round of the Champions League league phase.
But the win barely registered with him. Instead, he sent a moving message to the family of the late Jesús de Miguel, the Tenerife player who passed away hours earlier.
Barcelona's captain looked deeply affected as he spoke to Movistar after the match. The circumstances, he stressed, left no room to focus on football or celebrate a victory, not with such a tragedy hanging over the Spanish game.
As highlighted by the Spanish newspaper "Marca", Raphinha said: "I don't want to talk about football. I want to send all my support and strength to Jesús's family, and to wish that he rests in peace. Today is not a suitable day to talk about football."
Pointing to how hard it had been to play after hearing the news, he added: "This could happen to anyone. It is extremely harsh, especially after we learned the news. It is hard to go out and play a match in such circumstances, because it could happen to you or to anyone close to you. Today is not a suitable day to talk about football."
His two goals carried a milestone with them. Raphinha is now the top-scoring Brazilian player for Barcelona in the Champions League, past legends such as Neymar da Silva and Rivaldo.