The first half at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan was tight and evenly balanced. Barcelona, the runaway league leaders, even fell behind briefly when Youssouf Fofana scored in the 19th minute. Captain Raphinha put it right almost at once in the 22nd minute and it was 1-1 at the break.
After the restart, though, the game became increasingly one-sided. Barca took control and twice the combination of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha settled it.
Both times, the Spanish world champion supplied the assist and his Brazilian strike partner applied the finish in the 52nd and 69th minutes. Raphinha's night ended in the 76th minute, when Karim Adeyemi replaced him.
For the statisticians, it was some night. Raphinha scored his 10th, 11th and 12th goals of the season in Seville, all after just seven matchdays. Has that ever happened before and, if so, when?
Getty Images
How does Raphinha's start to the season compare with Messi and CR7?
Opta's data analysts had the answer: in the 21st century, only one player had scored more goals after the seventh matchday. Cristiano Ronaldo had already hit 13 by that point in the 2014/15 season for Real Madrid, despite missing one game through injury.
As for Lionel Messi, his record stands at 11 goals after the seventh matchday in the 2017/18 season.
In the end, what were those hauls worth? Ronaldo finished with a staggering 48 goals and 17 assists in 35 games, but Barca were champions. In 2018, the Catalans also won the title, with Messi contributing 34 goals and 14 assists in 36 games.
So where will Raphinha end up? The 29-year-old's record for Barcelona stands at 18 goals and 12 assists in 2024/25.
Thanks to their seventh win in the seventh league game of the season, Flick's team moved six points clear of second-placed Real Madrid. The Spanish champions face Atletico in the derbi madrileno on Sunday and could trim the gap again.