Raphinha's second straight hat-trick fires Barcelona from behind to a 3-1 win at Sevilla

Youssouf Fofana gave Sevilla the lead inside 19 minutes at the Sánchez-Pizjuán, and for a moment it looked like Barcelona's perfect start to the season might finally wobble. It did not last. Raphinha equalized three minutes later, added a second in the 52nd minute and a third in the 69th to complete his second hat-trick in as many LaLiga matches, and Barcelona came from behind to win 3-1.

Fofana's early strike, then Raphinha levels it

Fofana's opener came against the run of play, a quick move that caught Barcelona's defense square inside the first quarter of an hour and briefly had the home crowd believing. Raphinha's response was almost immediate — three minutes later he leveled it at 1-1 — and the sides went in level at the break, despite Barcelona holding the vast majority of the ball.

Raphinha's second hat-trick in a row

The Brazilian took over after half-time. His second goal, in the 52nd minute, put Barcelona ahead for the first time, and his third, in the 69th, completed the hat-trick and made it 3-1. It was his second consecutive LaLiga match with three goals, after his treble in the 7-2 win over Racing Santander three days earlier, and the kind of scoring run that puts him among the most in-form forwards anywhere in Europe right now.

The underlying numbers backed up the scoreline once Barcelona settled into the game: 69.5% possession, 24 shots to Sevilla's seven, and three corners to Sevilla's one. Sevilla's cards stayed clean — a single yellow to Barcelona's none — but they could not turn a bright opening quarter of an hour into anything more than a consolation position for the rest of the afternoon.

Score by half

Line-ups

Sevilla lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Odysseas in goal, Iglesias, Castrín, Sangante and Kochorashvili across the back, Agoumé and Sierra shielding the defense, and Félix, Fofana and Ure supporting the attack. Barcelona set up in a 4-3-3 with Livaković in goal, Cancelo, Christensen, García and Cubarsí at the back, Rodri, Pedri and Fermín López in midfield, and Raphinha, Gordon and Yamal leading the line.

Eight straight wins and counting

Barcelona came into this one off the back of a 7-2 win over Racing Santander in midweek, and this result made it eight straight wins in all competitions to start the season — seven from seven in LaLiga alone. Sevilla, for their part, had won 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruña three days earlier and arrived unbeaten in five of their previous six; this defeat was only their second of the campaign, and their first since matchday 3.

Where it leaves both sides

The win takes Barcelona to 21 points from a possible 21 in the league, still unbeaten and yet to be seriously tested by anyone. Sevilla move to 13 points from seven matches — good enough to stay in the top half of the table even after the defeat, with the Deportivo win three days earlier proof that the campaign is about more than just this one result against the league's best team.

For Sevilla, the lesson is a familiar one at this level: a fast start counts for little against a side that can simply keep scoring. Fofana's 19th-minute goal was as good an opening as they could have hoped for against the league leaders, and for three minutes it looked like it might hold. Raphinha's response, and everything that followed it, is the difference between a team chasing European football and one already out on its own at the top of the table.