Barcelona's La Liga Victory: Raphinha Shines as Key Player

Barcelona’s perfect La Liga start survived its sternest examination yet, dragged over the line by a rampant Raphinha and a manager who trusted his gut.

Raphinha the No 9, and a night that nearly slipped away

At the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Barcelona were briefly rattled. Sevilla struck first, and deserved it. In the 19th minute, Youssouf Fofana punished a slack, disjointed Barça with a sharp finish that exposed the visitors’ early lethargy.

The response was instant.

Three minutes later, Andreas Christensen split the Sevilla back line with a precise ball and Raphinha, now reborn as a central striker, levelled. One touch, one clean strike, 1-1. The wobble was over almost as soon as it began.

Raphinha has spent most of his Barcelona career glued to the flank. That version of him has gone. Pushed into the No 9 role after the summer departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, he is playing with the freedom – and ruthlessness – of a man who knows the penalty area now belongs to him.

After the break, he took over completely.

Twice Lamine Yamal found him. Twice he finished. One hat-trick in midweek, another completed here inside 72 hours. Fourteen goals in all competitions already, and a new focal point emerging at the top of the La Liga table.

Barcelona were poor before half-time, careless in possession and loose without the ball. Raphinha’s second and third goals, both crisply taken, turned what could have become a messy night into a seventh straight league win.

The pressure told. Sevilla faded. Barcelona did not.

Livakovic’s debut call – a gut decision

Behind that attacking fireworks display, another story quietly unfolded.

Dominik Livakovic, on debut, started in goal ahead of Wojciech Szczesny – a decision that raised eyebrows long before kick-off. Hansi Flick had previously hinted that the Pole was effectively his No 2. On this night, instinct overruled the hierarchy.

Livakovic looked anything but a risk. He was calm, assured, and handled Sevilla’s sporadic threats with the composure of a man who has played here for years, not minutes. With Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia in front of him, Barcelona limited Sevilla to scraps after the interval and saw the game out with far more control than they had shown early on.

Flick didn’t dress the choice up as some deep analytical masterplan. He framed it as exactly what it was: a manager’s call.

"As you know, sometimes it’s not only about analysing everything. Sometimes it’s also about the feeling," he said afterwards. "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."

He was careful not to turn it into a verdict on Szczesny’s status.

"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."

For now, the pecking order remains deliberately blurred.

"He was good. But in the end, it’s a decision I made, you know," Flick continued. "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."

Only for this match, yes. But nights like this tend to linger when a new goalkeeper delivers and the team wins.

The hardest part of winning: managing the bench

Seven games, seven wins. Top of La Liga with 21 points. On paper, Flick’s start looks almost effortless.

He insists it is anything but.

The real strain, he says, isn’t the tactical board or the press conference. It’s the bench. The names on it. The ones he leaves there.

"In the end, to be honest with you, for me this is the hardest thing at the moment," Flick admitted. "I know everyone can be happy because we have enormous quality in the squad. But for me it’s not easy."

He looked down that bench and saw Gavi not playing. Xavi Espart not playing. Jules Kounde not playing. Szczesny not playing. Big reputations, big characters, all watching.

"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," he said. "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."

There was no attempt to soften it. No pretence that everyone can be kept happy.

"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."

Barcelona walk away from Seville with three more points, another comeback, and a new hero at centre-forward. The question now is not whether Flick’s decisions are working – the table answers that – but how long he can keep a squad this deep, this loaded with egos and expectations, pulling in the same direction while the wins keep coming.