Seriously shaken up for the first time this season, FC Barcelona escaped the trap set by Sevilla FC (3-1) on Saturday to sign its seventh victory in seven La Liga days, thanks to a hat-trick from the inevitable Raphinha.
Barça (1st, 21 points), double reigning champion and imperturbable leader, will spend the international break warm, with a cushion of at least three lengths ahead of Real Madrid (2nd, 15 points), which challenges Atlético (4th, 13 points) on Sunday.
Captain’s hat-trick
And he owes it largely to his captain Raphinha, author of a second hat-trick in a week (22nd, 52nd, 69th) to overthrow a daring Sevillian team and who even opened the scoring thanks to French international Youssouf Fofana, on loan from AC Milan (19th).
Definitely unstoppable since his repositioning as a center forward, the 29-year-old Brazilian striker now has 12 goals in seven league games.
