#raphinha-hat-trick

#raphinha-hat-trick

With three goals against Sevilla, Raphinha led the way for Barcelona in style and netted a special hat-trick at a crucial juncture in the season. The past few weeks have not been easy for the Barcelona captain as he has struggled in front of goal and been far from his usual self in attack. While the work rate has never really been in question, there was always a feeling that he was lacking the decisiveness in the final third.

A game that could have been difficult was made pretty easy for Barça early on thanks to Sevilla conceding two very dumb penalties, both of which were scored by Raphinha to put the Blaugrana in front by a comfortable margin in the opening 20 minutes.

It was a dominant display from the Catalans, with Raphinha notably scoring a hat-trick, helped by two early penalties won by the team. Joao Cancelo also scored his first goal since returning to Barcelona and was one of the best performers in a night where coach Hansi Flick resorted to multiple changes on account of the upcoming second leg clash against Newcastle United.