Raphinha keeps Barcelona's 'cheeky gesture' tradition alive in official team photo
The Brazilian winger follows in the footsteps of Ronaldinho, Neymar and Piqué with his hand signal in Barça's 2025-26 season official squad photograph.
Barcelona’s squad has been immortalised for the 2025-26 season with their official team photo, with Raphinha making sure a peculiar Blaugrana tradition lives on through his distinctive hand gesture.
Photo session details
The first-team squad gathered on Monday at the Tito Vilanova pitch at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper for the traditional photoshoot. Two separate images were captured:
- The first featuring players (including winter signing João Cancelo and injured duo Gavi and Christensen) alongside a reduced technical staff
- A second, more comprehensive shot including the entire staff complement
President Joan Laporta and manager Hansi Flick took centre stage in the arrangement, while the recently-won Spanish Supercup trophy occupied prime position in the middle of the composition after Barça’s triumph over Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia on the 11th.
Raphinha’s cheeky nod to history
The Brazilian winger made sure to continue what’s become something of a Barcelona tradition, flashing a hand gesture that pays homage to previous Barça icons. The same signal was previously made by:
- Ronaldinho
- Neymar Jr
- Gerard Piqué
It’s a small detail that connects different eras of Barcelona’s storied history - proper football heritage, that.
Captain’s position
Ter Stegen, sporting the captain’s armband, was positioned prominently behind the Supercup trophy. Interestingly, the German goalkeeper’s future remains uncertain, with ongoing negotiations regarding a potential loan move to Girona being the only possible squad change expected for the remainder of the season.
Back to business
The photo session took place before Monday’s training session, which was recovery-focused for those who started against Real Sociedad at Anoeta, with more intensive work for the substitutes.
The team now shifts focus to their European campaign, with a Tuesday departure to Prague scheduled ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League group stage match against Slavia - their seventh fixture in the competition’s league phase.