Barcelona's Perfect Start Continues with Raphinha's Hat-Trick
Barcelona’s perfect start rolls on. The performance, though, belonged to one man in the middle.
Hansi Flick’s side came from behind to beat Sevilla 3-1 on Saturday, a Raphinha hat-trick wiping out the visitors’ early lead and keeping Barça’s 100% record intact. The scoreline looked comfortable. The path to it was anything but.
Raphinha shines, supporting cast steps up
Sevilla struck first, stunning the home crowd and briefly testing Barcelona’s nerve. The response was ruthless. Raphinha dragged the champions back into the game, then tore it away from Sevilla with a clinical treble that underlined his status as the team’s cutting edge in the final third.
Inside the dressing room, though, the plaudits were shared around.
Midfielder Rodri, all smiles after the final whistle, picked out three names when he faced the media. “For me, today Rapha was outstanding, Lamine was also very good, and Adeyemi, I really liked how he came on in the second half,” he said.
Raphinha’s goals did the damage. Lamine Yamal’s invention stretched Sevilla in wide areas. Adeyemi arrived after the break and injected fresh pace and intent, helping Barça turn control into a decisive scoreline.
Rodri’s warning: no easing off
The Spain international was in no mood to let the early-season feel-good factor drift into complacency.
“We’re not going to lose our rhythm, we’re going to keep competing. We need to keep in mind that these are important matches and come back in the best possible shape,” he insisted.
The message was clear. Perfect starts are fragile. Rodri wants no drop-off when the fixtures return.
Gerard Martín answers the call
The night carried a sour note with an injury to Andreas Christensen, forcing Flick into a defensive reshuffle. Gerard Martín stepped in and, in Rodri’s eyes, did far more than simply fill a gap.
“Gerard Martín has been sensational. Such a shame about Christensen’s injury,” Rodri said, underlining both the blow to the back line and the trust building in Barça’s depth.
Flick’s conductor in midfield
If Rodri spent his time praising others, his coach was not about to let his own contribution slide under the radar.
“Rodri is a great player, both with and without the ball. He controls everything and gives us composure in our positional play. I think he connects well with Pedri and the center-backs. Overall, I think we can be happy with what we did,” Hansi Flick said.
It was an assessment that matched the eye test. Rodri stitched moves together, dictated tempo and gave Barcelona a calm heartbeat when the game threatened to open up.
Barcelona now pause after a blistering start, the early standard set and the bar raised. They are back on October 10th against Getafe — and if Rodri gets his way, they will return not just rested, but relentless.
