Barcelona's La Liga Success Fueled by Raphinha's Hat-Trick
Barcelona’s perfect start to La Liga survived a scare in Seville, rescued by a ruthless Raphinha hat-trick and a coach trusting his gut over the data.
Raphinha the No 9, and the difference
At the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Barcelona were sloppy early, slow to react and second best in too many duels. Sevilla smelled it and struck first.
In the 19th minute, Youssouf Fofana punished them. The midfielder arrived to finish and tilt the stadium in Sevilla’s favour, the home side feeding off the noise and Barcelona suddenly chasing shadows.
The response was instant.
Three minutes later, Andreas Christensen split the lines with a precise pass and Raphinha, now leading the line as a central striker, did the rest. One touch, one clean finish, and the game was level before Sevilla could settle into their lead.
From there, the Brazilian took over.
Recast as a number nine after the summer exits of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, Raphinha is playing with the freedom – and the edge – of a man who knows this is his moment. After the break, he found another gear. Twice he timed his runs to perfection, twice Lamine Yamal picked him out, and twice he buried Sevilla.
Three goals. A second hat-trick in 72 hours. Fourteen in all competitions already this season. The numbers are brutal; the performances even more so.
Barcelona, ragged in the first half, walked off with a 3-1 win and a seventh straight league victory. The table says 21 points from 21. The story of the night, though, ran deeper than just the scoreline.
Livakovic’s debut and Flick’s “feeling”
Behind Raphinha’s fireworks, another decision defined the evening.
Hansi Flick had hinted that Wojciech Szczesny was his second-choice goalkeeper. Then, an hour before kick-off, the teamsheet dropped and Dominik Livakovic’s name sat in goal instead.
No injury. No disciplinary issue. Just a call.
On debut, Livakovic looked like he belonged. He was calm under pressure, sharp off his line and tidy with the ball at his feet, exactly what Barcelona needed on a night when Sevilla probed for a way back. With Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia in front of him limiting clear chances, the Croatian helped lock down the result and smother any late drama.
Afterwards, Flick didn’t hide behind analysis or long explanations. He went straight to instinct.
“As you know, sometimes it’s not only about analysing everything. Sometimes it’s also about the feeling,” he said via SPORT. “I think my feeling today was like this, so I spoke with the coaches and then we made this decision. So it’s about the feeling. It doesn’t mean that we analysed it and decided that we don’t believe in Szczesny or anything like that. But for me, today, I think this was the right decision.”
No demotion, no permanent reshuffle – at least not officially. Just a manager backing a hunch.
“He was good. But in the end, it’s a decision I made, you know,” Flick added. “I said that before, of course. Sometimes you see a player and you feel that this player might perhaps be the first option in this position, and you make a different decision. That’s what happened. It’s not such a big thing. This decision is only for this match.”
For now, the hierarchy in goal remains deliberately blurred. The message is clear enough: every position is live, every shirt can be won.
The hardest part of winning
If the table flatters Barcelona’s calm, Flick’s own words strip that away. The results are perfect. The job, he says, is not.
Although Barcelona sit top with seven wins from seven, the German coach admitted that navigating a squad packed with big names and bigger egos is the most draining part of his work.
“In the end, to be honest with you, for me this is the hardest thing at the moment,” he said. “I know everyone can be happy because we have enormous quality in the squad. But for me it’s not easy.
“When I look at the bench and see that Gavi won’t play, Xavi [Espart] can’t play, [Jules] Kounde can’t play, Szczesny can’t play, it’s not easy.
“It’s not easy for me either because I’m close to everyone, I’m with everyone, and still I have to make these decisions. In the end, that’s how it is. I’m always thinking about the team. There is nothing personal. It’s about the team. That’s why we made this decision. In the end, yes, that’s my job. But it’s not easy at the moment.”
The tension is obvious: a squad brimming with “enormous quality”, a manager insisting every call is about the collective, and a season in which the margin for error at the top will be slim.
For now, the balance holds. Raphinha is scoring like an elite No 9, Yamal is supplying him with the swagger of a veteran, Livakovic has passed his first test, and Barcelona keep winning.
The question is how long Flick can keep everyone else onside while the points keep piling up.
