Raphinha grabbed a fine hat-trick as Barcelona beat Sevilla 3-1 in La Liga yesterday to preserve their 100 per cent record.
Hansi Flick’s side are now six points ahead of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid who travel to Atletico Madrid in a derby showdown today, writes AFP.
Sevilla offered the Spanish champions their sternest test of the season so far but a hat-trick from Raphinha helped them through at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.
The Brazil international has been fantastic in the start of the season playing out of position as a central forward.
La Liga’s top goalscorer Raphinha scored his second consecutive hat-trick and took his tally to 12 league goals for the season, while he netted a couple of goals in the Champions League too.
“We know the quality of Raphinha and we are very happy about him, he gives us a lot,” Flick told reporters.
“He did make it happen for us today, so the team gives him the last pass, so it’s good.
“After these numbers in these eight games, he is very happy to play as a number nine.
Barcelona sporting director Deco revealed before the game the former Leeds winger had decided to prolong his stay at the club until 2030, with Raphinha marking the occasion in style.
“He’s a very good player and can play anywhere up front. We throw him the balls and he scores the goals,” Barca midfielder Fermin Lopez told Movistar.
Joan Garcia was out injured, while Flick handed Croatian custodian Dominik Livakovic his debut in goal.
Sevilla, who are fifth, started brightly and made Barca uncomfortable and took the lead via Youssouf Fofana in the 19th minute.
Felix Correia shrugged off Eric Garcia and sent in a cross for Fofana to head in at the near post.
Teenager Lamine Yamal came close to levelling for Barca but Sevilla custodian Odysseas Vlachodimos got a hand to his curling effort to tip it against the post and out.
And when the Catalans did level it, it wasn’t a surprise to see Raphinha the guy to score.
He nimbly adjusted his weight to beat a defender before slotting the ball home with a low finish.
Raphinha’s ferocity
Yamal shot over again and Sevilla fans whistled him but he waved at them to keep whistling.
The 19-year-old didn’t score himself, but he did tee up Raphinha for his next two goals after the interval.
“His team improved in the second half and gave away the ball left and right,” Flick added.
“It was a difficult game, especially 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 added.
Yamal crossed in the early stages of the second stanza and Raphinha headed home to put Barca ahead.
Yamal played in Raphinha, the Brazilian dinked the ball over the custodian, perhaps his best finish was still to come.
Barca had a number of chances to add to their advantage, but Anthony Gordon got his feet wrong and a Dani Olmo free-kick was knocked away.
However, Barca maintained their perfect start to the season with an eighth win from eight games in all competitions as they led the way in the Spanish top flight.
Sevilla lost for the second time this season but will have left with their confidence intact after taking Barca all the way.
“We knew we were up against a great opponent, one of the teams playing the best football in the world,” Sevilla captain Gabriel Suazo told Movistar.
“We didn’t have the energy in the second half but we competed until the end. We go with our heads held high, we had a positive attitude.
Elsewhere, Celta Vigo hammered Racing Santander 5-0, Athletic Bilbao and Alaves drew 0-0 and Osasuna were held 1-1 by Rayo Vallecano.
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