Raphinha hits outrageous hat-trick as Barcelona beat Sevilla 3-1 to stay clear at the top

Raphinha is filling in at centre forward — and doing it spectacularly. Barcelona's Brazilian scored an outrageously good hat-trick on Saturday night as Hansi Flick's side beat Sevilla 3-1, taking his tally to 12 league goals in just seven games, plus two more in the Champions League. He is five ahead of anyone else in the scoring charts already.

"We give him the ball, he scores the goals," Fermín López said. The movement was every inch the No 9; the touch and finishing at ridiculous speed all his own. Sevilla went a goal up and were as good as anyone against Flick's side so far this season, but in the end they simply couldn't live with them.

With Barcelona flying and six points clear at the top — a lead only once overturned in the club's history, by Fabio Capello's implausible Real Madrid side of 2006-07 — the pressure is mounting elsewhere in the capital, where Madrid's rebuilding process has only just begun and familiar flaws remain unaddressed two years on.

Elsewhere in La Liga: Espanyol 1-3 Elche, Celta Vigo 5-0 Real Santander, Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Alavés, Osasuna 1-1 Rayo Vallecano, Valencia 2-3 Real Sociedad, Villarreal 3-1 Levante, Deportivo A Coruña 1-1 Real Betis and Getafe 1-0 Málaga.