Rafael Avelino Pereira Pinto Barbosa

Rafael Barbosa started his career in the town's own academies, ACD Madalena and Académico Amarante, before Sporting CP took notice and brought him into their youth setup, where he stayed from 2008 to 2015.

The step up to Sporting's B side came without a senior debut for the first team attached to it. Over five seasons in the reserves, Barbosa made 72 appearances and scored 12 goals, a spell broken up by loans to União Madeira, Portimonense, Paços de Ferreira and Estoril that gave him his first taste of senior competitive football away from Sporting's academy structure.

Tondela became the club where he found the most sustained first-team run of his career. Across three seasons, from 2020 to 2023, he made 92 appearances and scored 10 goals. A move to Farense followed, yielding 34 appearances and a single goal between 2023 and 2025.

Barbosa left Portugal for Radomiak Radom in Poland, playing nine matches and scoring once, before returning for a brief spell at AVS, where he added 13 appearances and a goal. In February 2026 he joined Leixões SC.

At international level, his caps have stayed at youth level: one appearance for Portugal's under-17s in the 2012-13 season, and one for the under-21s in 2017-18.