Football
Barcelona’s Hidden Struggles: Why Flick Calls Squad Decisions ‘Hardest Thing’
Barcelona edged Sevilla 3-1 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with Raphinha netting a hat-trick to extend the club’s perfect La Liga start to seven wins; Hansi Flick cited emotional difficulty in managing squad depth despite the results.
Barcelona preserved their flawless record in La Liga with a 3-1 comeback win over Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, lifting their tally to 21 points from seven matches. Raphinha scored all three goals — his second hat-trick in 72 hours — as the Catalan side overcame an early deficit to claim their seventh straight league victory.
How Raphinha’s Central Role Delivered the Win
Sevilla opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Youssouf Fofana, but Raphinha equalised just three minutes later, finishing a precise pass from Andreas Christensen. The Brazilian winger, deployed centrally as a number nine following the summer departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, added two more goals after halftime. Both were assisted by Lamine Yamal, bringing Raphinha’s season total to 14 goals across all competitions.
Debutant goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic delivered a composed performance, while defenders Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia helped restrict Sevilla’s attacking opportunities throughout the match.
Flick’s Unplanned Goalkeeper Decision
Hansi Flick surprised observers by naming Livakovic ahead of Wojciech Szczesny in goal — a choice he attributed not to statistical analysis but to intuition. Speaking to SPORT after the match, Flick said: “As you know, sometimes it’s not only about analysing everything. Sometimes it’s also about the feeling. 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 stressed that the move did not reflect diminished confidence in Szczesny: “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.” Flick reiterated that the pecking order remains unsettled: “He was good. But in the end, it’s a decision I made, you know. 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.”
“For Me This Is the Hardest Thing”
Despite the team’s dominant position atop La Liga, Flick identified squad management as his most taxing responsibility. “In the end, to be honest with you, for me this is the hardest thing at the moment,” he said. “I know everyone can be happy because we have enormous quality in the squad. But for me it’s not easy.”
He cited specific high-profile omissions from the starting XI: “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.” Flick emphasized the personal weight of those choices: “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.”
Next Up: Getafe and Galatasaray
Barcelona now enter a three-week international break holding a three-point lead at the top of the table. Domestic competition resumes on 10 October against Getafe. Three days later, on 13 October, the club faces Galatasaray in a pivotal Champions League fixture.
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