Raphinha Ignites Excitement with 'Julian Alvarez' Celebration in Barcelona's Victory Against Elche

RAPHINHA set tongues wagging with a Spider-Man celebration on the same day Julian Alvarez was heckled by Atletico Madrid fans.

Alvarez, whose nickname is La Araña (The Spider), has been trying to force his way out of Atleti this summer.

And ‘s Barca are one of multiple teams the Rojiblancos have turned away.

So it appeared telling that, on the same day Alvarez was given a hostile reception at the Metropolitano, Raphinha performed a celebration with the same Spider-Man hand gesture used by the Argentine after scoring Barca’s first goal in a 5-0 rout at Elche.

The conspiracy theories were busted by Raphinha’s wife after the game, however, as she revealed on that it was actually his son, Gael, who had requested the celebration.

Alvarez was jeered and whistled when he was brought on in the 67th minute of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with .

And he was , with boss admitting his dart down the tunnel was pre-planned.

He said: “It was a club decision to not let Julian Alvarez go over with his team-mates to greet the fans.”

Fans had been chanting during the game: “Get him out of here, tell him to get out of here.”

Evidently, Alvarez going public with his desire to leave Atletico has not gone down well.

Fixtures Results Table

Monday 24 August

Osasuna

18:30

Regular Season

Levante

Málaga

20:30

Regular Season

Deportivo

Tuesday 25 August

Valencia

20:00

Regular Season

Betis

Wednesday 26 August

Real Madrid

20:00

Regular Season

Real Sociedad

Sunday 23 August

Elche

0 – 5

Regular Season

Barcelona

Getafe

1 – 0

Regular Season

Santander

Atlético

2 – 2

Regular Season

Villarreal

Saturday 22 August

Espanyol

1 – 2

Regular Season

Real Madrid

Valencia

0 – 0

Regular Season

Celta

Athletic

1 – 3

Regular Season

Sevilla

Spanish La Liga P W D L GD Pts Form

1

2

2

0

0

3

6

2

Alavés

2

1

1

0

3

4

3

2

1

1

0

2

4

4

1

1

0

0

5

3

5

2

1

0

1

2

3

6

1

1

0

0

1

3

7

1

1

0

0

1

3

8

Getafe

2

1

0

1

-2

3

In June, while at the World Cup with beaten finalists Argentina, the former striker said: “I spoke with the people I needed to speak with, and the best thing for everyone is a transfer. I want to fulfil my dream.”

Barca reportedly had an £85.6million bid for Alvarez turned down earlier this summer but they are now understood to be prioritising other targets.

then saw a whopping £128.4m offer knocked back, with Atletico insisting they will not sell their star forward at any price.

Arsenal are understood to be keeping tabs on the situation in case Atleti bosses change their mind.

Alvarez, 26, has scored 49 goals in 107 games since joining Atletico for £82m in 2024.

He previously laced up for and Man City, and played an influential role as Argentina won the World Cup in 2022.