Barcelona's Perfect Start Survives Sevilla Scare

Barcelona’s perfect start to the La Liga season survived a serious scare in Seville, dragged over the line by a ruthless Raphinha and a coach who trusted his gut.

At the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Hansi Flick’s side fell behind, looked flat, then exploded.

Raphinha the No 9, and the game-changer

Sevilla struck first. In the 19th minute, Youssouf Fofana punished a sluggish Barcelona with the opener, and the stadium sensed a fragile league leader in front of them.

That feeling barely lasted three minutes.

Andreas Christensen split the lines with a precise pass, Raphinha darted through the middle, and the Brazilian – now operating as a central striker after the summer exits of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres – levelled with the assurance of a man who has found a new home in the box.

From there, the night belonged to him.

After the break, with Barcelona still shaking off a sloppy first half, Raphinha stepped up again. Twice Lamine Yamal supplied him, twice he finished, completing his second hat-trick in 72 hours and dragging Barça to a 3-1 comeback win. His tally for the season now stands at 14 goals in all competitions, a statement return for a player many still see as a winger.

The pressure that Sevilla had built early on evaporated under that kind of finishing.

Livakovic’s debut call – Flick goes with his feeling

Behind that attacking surge, another storyline simmered in goal.

Dominik Livakovic, on debut, started ahead of Wojciech Szczesny – a decision that raised eyebrows even before kick-off, not least because Flick had previously hinted the Pole was his number two. Livakovic responded with a calm, assured performance, dealing with what came his way and giving Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia a solid platform as they restricted Sevilla’s threat.

Flick didn’t dress it up as a grand tactical masterstroke. He called it what it was: instinct.

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

He stressed that nothing is fixed, no permanent demotion, no hard hierarchy carved in stone.

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

On this evidence, the goalkeeping battle at Barcelona has only just begun.

Winning every game, managing every ego

Seven games. Seven wins. Top of La Liga with 21 points and an attack being rebuilt on the fly. On paper, Flick’s start looks close to flawless.

The reality on the bench is more complicated.

"In the end, to be honest with you, for me this is the hardest thing at the moment," he admitted. "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."

This is the balance Flick is trying to hold: a ruthless streak on the pitch, a human touch off it, and a squad full of big names who know they can be left out at any time.

In Seville, his feeling was to trust Livakovic, lean on a reinvented Raphinha, and live with the consequences. Right now, with Barcelona perfect in the league and their new No 9 on fire, those instincts are shaping a season that suddenly looks very dangerous for the rest of Spain.