Raphinha's Perfect Hat-Trick Heroics | 5 Headlines from 3-1 Win vs. Sevilla
Barcelona faced their most challenging match of the season so far, and still came out with a 3-1 win. Raphinha made some hat-trick history while Rodri diagnosed how Sevilla gave them a fight. 0:00 Barcelona 3-1 Sevilla 0:53 Fofana First 3:08 Raphinha has the Answer 4:15 Rodri to the Rescue 5:18 Perfect Hat-Trick 8:48 Any Worries? Check out our merch in our store! - https://the-barcelona-podcast.creator-spring.com/ Listen to the full podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast ... Follow Me: Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/thebarcelon ... Twitter ➔ https://twitter.com/TheBarcelonaPod Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/barcablog TikTok ➔ https://www.tiktok.com/@barcelonapodcast BlueWireVideo
Transcript
Barcelona only won 3-1 against Sevilla and Kouls are calling it the most challenging match so far this season. And that might actually be true. Barcelona were looking to avenge last season's embarrassing 4-1 loss and they did just that at the Raman Sanchez pichuan. So apparently the Sofhini guy is pretty good at scoring goals. First it was just the goals, now he can't stop scoring hat-ticks and plus the international break. We'll get to all of that. But first, welcome to episode 855 of the Barcelona podcast brought to you by the Blue Wire Podcast Network. I'm Dan Hilton. While we're still off on Big Up for those watch alongs for a few more weeks, please subscribe to the YouTube channel. Help me out on Patreon where I have some Patreon exclusive content coming and continuing to be turned out. I got some writing to do this international break or follow along on the podcast apps merch store. That's another way to help me too. So, without further ado, let's dive in. Here are the five headlines from Barcelona's 3-1 victory over Sevilla. Headline one is Fana first. We've got some starting lineup changes as expected with Dwan Garcia out for a few weeks now. We thought it might be Tech, but no, it's Leakovic in net which is probably the right decision even before that tech mistake midweek against racing Santandere. And then we saw those other rotations that we've been seeing this season. Fermine steps back into the starting lineup with Canelo Christensen, Kubarci, Eric as the back line, and Gordon gets a start over Eddie Yi. first 30 seconds of this match. My note is that it was all out press from Barcelona. Even on the road, you've got to set the precedent early and I felt like they kind of did that against Sevilla. Sevilla didn't really have one breath for the first five minutes of the match and only barely that back four. So, it wasn't a back five like Bars have been seeing recently, but a back four. So it was really on Cancel to pick and choose his moments when he would get forward and supply the width when Gordon would tuck in when he himself would underlap and come into that high attacking midfield role when Pedri and Rodri would be a bit deeper or they would decide to numerically overload the other side of the field or Canelo at times in that first half would just stay at home as the left back if Gordon was the one supplying the width. It really was on Canelo to kind of decide numerically where Barcelona had their biggest advantage against Sevilla. Eighth minute is the first real highlight in this match. Lamini ball given some space to shoot hits it off the post. Warning shots fired. Then the 11th minute after Barcelona kept it in to Sevilla's half off a corner. It was just Kubarci and two Sevilla defenders for Leaminium all cross but he committed the foul unfortunately. And before we get too much further with any Barcelona highlights, it's time to jump in to the Sevilla goal. the one and only in this game in the 19th minute. So, kind of against the run of play. Eric Garcia did not do well enough in this match. He will have some down matches and those who are afraid of what he'll do in Champions League nights. He's kind of rectified that reputation, but today again, those are things that detractors are going to highlight where he doesn't close down Felos Korea. And the cut back is right there for Ysef Fafana who got to the near post ahead of Kubarci and is flicked in to Leakovic's near post. So, not much that the goalkeeper could do and for Barcelona, put on their heels early. Sevilla came out with a lot of energy and a good crowd there down in Seville. Headline two, Rafinia has the answer. Let's move ahead to the 22nd minutes. Just 3 minutes later, Barcelona have already found the answer. Who else? It's Rafinia. Kind of has to be at one point in every match. It feels like it's Christensen who steps into the space that he's supposed to with the man marking. We'll get to all the tactics of this here in a second, but Christensen does step into the space he's supposed to. Delivers a ball to Rafinia. And what a ball it is from Christensen. Running off the center back is Rafinia. Per usual, the chop back to his right foot and a clinical finish. The man cannot be stopped. His 10th La Liga goal from Rafinia. And we've still got a few more to talk about. 35th minute. So jumping ahead now. Laminia Mal brought down right outside the box, but the ref doesn't give it. Rafinia and Laminia Mal being given plenty of room to run into. And if those two guys are going to be given space really is just a matter of time. 38th minute after a long shot from Leini Mall. A bit of extracurricular activity between these two teams. You could feel that edge and that tension to the match. And Lein Maul saying please please let me have it. And the booze at the Sanchez Puan absolutely followed the 19 for the rest of the match. Headline three is Rodri to the rescue. 42nd minute announcement still in the first half. Eric Garcia continued to not have the best match. He was having trouble with the speed and work rate of Felos Korea who connected on a cross by beating Eric Garcia to the front post. Fortunately for Eric, the winger was not as clinical as he probably should have been on the day. Then right before halftime, Rodri makes a lung busting run and meets the same field at the far post with just enough of a touch to tackle the ball and not the man. He got a little bit of the man, but he got so much of the ball with the tackle that the ref says, "No, that's not a PK." And Rodri comes to the rescue. It was interesting as well that the Spanish midfielder praised Sevilla in the postgame, crediting their man-to-man marking as we talked about with Christensen on that first goal, stepping into the space. And it was Rodri who said he felt like his team wasn't necessary, I'm paraphrasing here, of course, said his team didn't feel like they were doing as much of what they could have of taking advantage of the space to dribble into in that first half. And he felt like the gaps that Barcelona need to exploit, they didn't do enough of that. Then the second half, they started to do that and that's when they really took control of the game. Headline four is perfect hat-trick. We still have two more goals for Rafina to talk about. Here's the second one coming in the second half in the 52nd minute. It's Barca pinning Sevilla back in their own half. Side to side they go horizontally across the pitch. Leini Maul loses it, but he gets it back. Fermine drives, clears back to Lein Maul and he takes enough attention, gets the right angle, too, so that Rafa is left just 1 v one in the box to win the header. Now that's 11 for Rafinia. And as you've noticed, we've got a right foot and we've got a header. Pay attention because we still haven't got anything on his patented left foot. 59th minute. Some worrisome news for Barcelona. We'll see how this does pan out. But Christensen quite frustrated. He is forced off for Gerard Martin after a nasty tackle from the new recruit for Sevilla, Robbie. Yur issue with his thigh. Seemed like there was some contact there, but also it might have been a bit extra than they expected. You could just see on the bench how frustrated he was for a guy that has missed so much time with FC Barcelona. Hopefully it's not just Gerard Martin in pen in the starting lineup. That said, Gerard Martin when he did come on the field did take advantage of that space as he was very likely by the coaching staff given his instructions in the 64th minute off a corner for Barcelona. Rafinia almost had his hat-tick this way. So this is still would be a perfect hat-tick because it came off his left foot and in swinging cross from the corner flag, but the Olympico is denied by the post. So Rafini would then have to wait all of five minutes until the perfect hat-tick comes. Pedri attracting some attention. Rodri breaks the midfield line to Lamini Maul with a pass coming underneath Rafinia was Lamini Maul. And when they overload in tight spaces, it's really hard to figure out if it's Rafinia stepping to the ball that Lamin now has all the space on the wing or it's Lamini Maul coming and checking to the ball. Now Rafinia has the ability to very quickly make a run at the center back and that's exactly what he does. The run just too easy for the Brazilian at this point. The chip of the keeper finishes it off and the pass on the mean wall is perfectly weighted. They I said made it look easy, but there is so so much skill involved in this one too. Credit to Mr. Chip for the stats here. Rafinhia has scored a hat-tick in now two consecutive Barcelona matches in La Liga. No player has done that in La Liga since Antoine Griezen back in 2017 18. It is just the 30th time in the entire history of La Liga that a player has had hat-ticks in back-to-back matches. And only two other Barcelona players have ever done it. It's Messi three times of course only Messi and this time and Luis Suarez did it on one occasion. Only two players all time that being Langera back in the 3435 season and of course Tomara did it back in the 4647 season. Those two strung together three consecutive matches with hat-ticks. And for Rafina he's unfortunately going to have to wait till after the international break to try to make this happen. I also keep saying it. It's a perfect hat-tick, which means he scored one with his right, scored one with his left foot, and he scored one with a header. For Barcelona, Messi, despite having 36 hat-ticks in his Barcelona career, never had a perfect hat-tick. Rafiniah is just the sixth player in Bana history to do it. Julio Selenas did it in ' 89. Picero does it in 95. Clover did it in 2001 and 2002. He got the double there. Luis Suarez, as I mentioned, in 2015, and now Rafinia in 2026. every single Liga match, even Champions League matches. Rafina continues to make history. This is an awesome and just an exciting fun start to the season for a player that remember was not named in the top 30 in the Ballindor voting for last season. Headline five, any worries. In the 76th minute, Barcelona have the ability to dip into their bench. Rafi gets a another well at least visiting ovation for the hattick. He comes out with Fermine for Almo and Admy. And that switches Anthony Gordon to the middle. And when I say any worries, I'm kind of talking about Anthony Gordon. But with things so good, yeah, I guess got to find something to nitpick about. I've been talking about the back line and I'll have much more to talk about about the back line over the international break. But in the case of Anthony Gordon, you could feel his desperation both on the wing and the middle here probably for about the last two weeks, two and a half weeks or so. Yeah, the first two, three weeks it was all good and fun and he had the four assists, but you can see he's desperately trying to get that first goal. When he moves to the middle, he whiffed on his first shot. But I will say this, I bring it up to say, are you worried? But I'm not really that worried at all. He has four assists and the Barcelona machine keeps on clicking. As long as someone is scoring the goals, that's what I care about. The guy along with Ed was brought in to press, they're brought in to work hard, they're brought in to set up goals and finish it when they absolutely had to. And I don't think the opportunities that Gordon has had were ones that he's clinically missed. I just think he hasn't been in the perfect spots just yet. And so those will come. I'm not worried that those will come as long as Barcelona's offense continues to click the way it is. In the 86th minute, Gordon does exit the game along with Pedri for Gabriel Jus and Bernal. In the 80th minute, almost free kick forces an acrobatic save. And then finishing it off 90th minute, it's Bernal starting to get that diagonal going for Eddie. Game in and game out. I like that combination now happening. And Eddie Y forces another save that puts an end to the match. All three points of Barcelona. fair play to Sevilla, you are supposed to fight a little bit harder. You are supposed to have to work for it a bit harder away from home for a team that right now is top six in La Liga. That's supposed to be a challenge and the fact that it was for Barcelona and they still won 3-1. Yeah, it tells you the juggernaut that they have been to start this season in La Liga. What I am actually worried about when I say any worries is the international break. So yeah, I've been enjoying doing this now twice a week. I've been enjoying all the goals, but now yes, I will still make content, but I've got to take off the matches. No five headlines for at least three weeks. So all that stuff is quite frustrating because I'm really hoping that nobody goes down during the international break. So I will see you soon. Of course, Barcelona players, we're going to have to wait a few weeks for them to be back in the uniform and get put a pin in all these Rafinia stats because he still has history left to make on the other side of the break. So hopefully he and his compatriots and all those other Barcelona players stay healthy. I hope you stay happy and healthy. Until next time,