Barcelona Draw Level with Sevilla After Raphinha Cancels Out Fofana Goal

Seville’s Sánchez-Pizjuán was level at 1-1 shortly after the restart as Barcelona, leaders with six wins from six before arriving in Andalusia, sought a seventh straight league victory against a Sevilla side that had made a strong start of its own. Raphinha cancelled out Fofana’s first goal for the home club, while Lamine Yamal struck the post before repeatedly threatening Odysseas Vlachodimos.

A fast evening in Seville

1. Barcelona began with possession and quickly installed themselves in Sevilla territory. Their first clear opening arrived in the seventh minute, when Lamine Yamal cut in from the right and drove a shot towards the far side. Vlachodimos got enough on the ball to divert it onto his right-hand post.
2. Dominik Livakovic, making his Barcelona debut in place of the injured Joan Garcia, was called upon early too. The Croatian goalkeeper used his feet after a Rodri recovery, then later denied Juan Iglesias from a Kochorashvili free-kick delivery.
3. Barcelona appealed for a penalty in the 12th minute when Pau Cubarsí went down under Castrín’s marking after a Yamal cross. The referee, Juan Martínez Munuera, ruled that the holding did not merit a spot-kick and VAR did not intervene.
4. The stadium paused in the 16th minute to applaud Antonio Puerta, the Sevilla player who died in 2007 at the age of 22 after collapsing during a match against Getafe at this ground.
5. Sevilla took the lead three minutes later. Correia’s cross from the left found Fofana, on loan from AC Milan, and the midfielder headed emphatically into the top corner for his first Sevilla goal.
6. Barcelona restored parity in the 22nd minute. Andreas Christensen released Raphinha with a pass through the middle, and the Brazilian shifted past Sangante inside the area before finishing beyond Vlachodimos.
7. A hydration break followed in the 27th minute, with Sevilla coach Luis García Plaza urging his players to stay composed without the ball and avoid sideways passing in advanced areas.
8. Yamal remained at the centre of Barcelona’s attacking work. He was denied a penalty after a challenge from Agoumé, though the replay indicated any foul had occurred outside the box. Soon afterwards, he combined with Fermín before firing over and responding to whistles from the home stands with a hand gesture that irritated Sevilla players.
9. Barcelona had a major chance through Pedri in the 43rd minute after Fermín drove into the area from the right and laid the ball back, but Pedri failed to make clean contact.
10. Livakovic made another important save near half-time, holding a Sevilla effort, before Rodri prevented a potential second home goal in added time. Fofana’s backheel had set up Correia, only for the Barcelona midfielder to block the shot inside the area.
11. The teams went in level after four added minutes. Early in the second half, Yamal again went close twice: first with a long-range shot that skimmed past the right post, then with another effort after Fermín’s involvement that passed narrowly wide.

Barcelona’s response after Fofana’s opener

The first-half numbers reflected Barcelona’s territorial advantage, but not a one-sided contest. The visitors had 62% possession to Sevilla’s 38%, produced two efforts on target apiece and won two corners to none. Sevilla were compact and difficult to pull apart, with the league leaders needing Raphinha’s individual composure to draw level.

Raphinha’s equaliser took him to 10 league goals, extending his lead in the scoring race. Camello, Yamal and Kylian Mbappé were next on seven. Before kick-off, Raphinha had led Barcelona’s league scoring with nine, ahead of Yamal on seven and Fermín on four.

The teams and the wider league picture

Barcelona came to Seville with 28 goals scored and only six conceded across their first six league fixtures. A victory would have placed them six points ahead of Real Madrid overnight, before Madrid’s trip to Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano the following day. It would also have matched Hansi Flick’s best Barcelona league start, from 2024-25, with seven wins, leaving only Tata Martino’s eight-match opening streak in 2013-14 ahead.

Sevilla started the night fifth, having recorded four wins, one draw and one defeat, scoring nine and conceding six. Barcelona’s recent record in this stadium had been favourable, with six victories and three draws in their previous 10 visits, although Sevilla won last season’s meeting 4-1.

Starting line-ups

• Sevilla: Odysseas Vlachodimos; Juan Iglesias, Sangante, Castrín, Suazo; Agoumé, Fofana; Miguel Sierra, Kochorashvili, Félix; Robbie Ure.
• Barcelona: Livakovic; Eric, Cubarsí, Christensen, Cancelo; Rodri, Pedri, Fermín; Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Gordon.

Livakovic’s selection was Barcelona’s principal surprise. Joan Garcia was unavailable through injury, while Wojciech Szczesny was among the substitutes after offering the Croatian an embrace following the warm-up. Barcelona were also without Frenkie de Jong and Roony through injury, with Brian Fariñas omitted by technical decision.

Sevilla’s bench included Fran González, Carmona, Marcao, Iker Muñoz, Julio Díaz, Manu Bueno, Guridi, Nico Guillén, Peque, Ejuke, Alfon and Isaac. Vargas and Stassin were injured. Barcelona had Szczesny, I. Rodríguez, Balde, Xavi Espart, Koundé, Gerard Martín, Bernal, Gavi, Olmo, Hamza and Adeyemi available from the bench.

With the score still tied after the interval, the match remained poised between Sevilla’s compact resistance and Barcelona’s increasingly persistent search for a way through before the international break.