Livaković makes shock Barça debut as league leaders travel to Sevilla

Background

On Saturday, September 19, in matchday seven of the 2026/27 LaLiga season, Sevilla hosted league leaders Barcelona at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán stadium. Kick-off was at 21:00 local Spanish time.

Going into the match, Barcelona had won seven straight games across all competitions and topped the LaLiga table with 18 points. In their previous outing, the Catalans thrashed Racing de Santander 7-2, with a hat-trick from Raphinha plus goals from João Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal, along with an own goal by Asier Villalibre. Sevilla arrived on a two-match winning run of their own, having beaten Valencia 1-0 at home before winning 1-0 away at Deportivo in Riazor, courtesy of a goal from Miguel Sierra. That form had lifted Sevilla to fourth place with 13 points after six matchdays.

Livaković's debut

The biggest talking point before kick-off concerned the goalkeeper position. Barcelona's first-choice keeper, Joan García, sat out with mild discomfort in his right knee after slipping during the previous Wednesday's game against Racing de Santander; coach Hansi Flick opted to leave him out of the travelling squad as a precaution. Wojciech Szczęsny had deputized in that Wednesday match after García's injury, so he was expected to start in Sevilla as well. Instead, Flick surprised observers by handing the start to Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livaković, according to MARCA. Flick explained: "We analyzed everything and thought we needed to make a change in goal, and we did."

Livaković joined Barcelona at the end of August from Turkey's Fenerbahçe in a deal reportedly worth around €2 million in fixed fees plus up to €500,000 in variables, signing a contract through June 2030. He had originally been earmarked as Flick's backup goalkeeper, a role this match appeared to confirm. With his appearance in Sevilla, all three of Barcelona's goalkeepers have now made their competitive debuts this season.

Broadcast details

According to Sports Illustrated, the match was broadcast in Spain via Movistar+ and related channels, in the United States via ESPN Deportes and ESPN+, and in Mexico via Sky Sports Mexico.