Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona came from
behind to defeat Sevilla and strengthen their position at the top of La Liga.
The victory moved Hansi Flick’s side six points clear
of Real Madrid, who are scheduled to face Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby
on Sunday.
Barcelona were given a stern test at the Ramón
Sánchez-Pizjuán after Sevilla made a bright start and took the lead through
Youssouf Fofana in the 19th minute.
Felix Correia created the opening with a cross that
allowed Fofana to head the ball home at the near post.
Barcelona came close to an immediate response when
teenage forward Lamine Yamal saw his curling effort pushed onto the post by
Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
However, the visitors eventually found an equaliser
through Raphinha, who used a clever change of direction to evade his marker
before finishing low into the net.
The Brazil international then completed his hat-trick
after the interval, with Yamal playing a key role in both goals.
Yamal's cross allowed Raphinha to head Barcelona into
the lead early in the second half before the winger completed his treble with a
composed finish over the goalkeeper after being played through by the teenager.
The goals took Raphinha's tally to 12 in seven La Liga
appearances, making him the league's leading scorer. He has also scored twice
in the Champions League, underlining his impressive start to the campaign.
Raphinha has been operating as a central striker
despite traditionally playing on the wing, and Flick praised his ability to
adapt to the role.
“We know the quality of Raphinha, and we’re very happy
about him; he gives us a lot,” Flick said.
“After these numbers in these eight games, he’s very
happy to play as a number nine.”
Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez also praised the
Brazilian's versatility.
“He’s very good and can adapt to any position up
front. We give him the balls, and he scores the goals,” Lopez told Movistar.
The match also marked the Barcelona debut of Croatian
goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who was brought into the starting line-up with
Joan Garcia unavailable through injury.
Flick admitted that Barcelona struggled during the
opening half and gave possession away too cheaply, but said his team improved
considerably after the break.
“It was a difficult game, especially in the first
half… we also gave away the ball too easily a lot, that’s not usually our level
and our standard, and in the second half it was like that,” Flick said.
Barcelona created further opportunities to extend
their advantage, but failed to convert several chances. Anthony Gordon was
unable to finish one opportunity, while Sevilla goalkeeper Vlachodimos also
denied a Dani Olmo free-kick.
The result gave Barcelona an eighth victory in eight
matches across all competitions this season and maintained their strong start
to the campaign.
Despite suffering their second defeat of the season,
Sevilla captain Gabriel Suazo said his team could take positives from the
performance.
“We knew we were facing a tremendous opponent, one of
the teams playing the best football in the world,” Suazo said.
“We lacked energy in the second half, but we competed
until the end. We leave with our heads held high, having shown a good
attitude.”
Elsewhere in La Liga, Celta Vigo recorded a 5-0
victory over Racing Santander, Athletic Bilbao drew 0-0 with Alaves, while
Osasuna and Rayo Vallecano played out a 1-1 draw.
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