Dominik Livakovic hails Raphinha after Barcelona debut: “Unbelievable”

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·20 September 2026

Dominik Livakovic hails Raphinha after Barcelona debut: “Unbelievable”

Although his signing was overshadowed by those of bigger names like Rodri Hernandez, Anthony Gordon, and Gabriel Jesus, another addition that FC Barcelona made to their team during the last summer transfer window was the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

The experienced shot-stopper was brought in to be another reliable backup option to Joan Garcia, who remains the fixed starter for Hansi Flick. Thus, he will be competing with Wojciech Szczesny to get the coach’s nod whenever the Spaniard is not playing.

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Last night, the Croat made his debut with his new team as the Catalans visited Sevilla and got a 3-1 win. As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the goalkeeper also spoke to the media after the game. He expressed his happiness with his team’s performance, and praised Raphinha in particular:

“We have made a perfect start to the season and we have to keep it up. We had a good talk at half-time and the team responded in the best possible way. We showed it on the pitch. Congratulations to Raphinha, who scored a hat-trick—unbelievable… He is the perfect striker because of the way he presses.”

The goalie also commented on how the presence of Dani Olmo has helped him adapt to his new team:

“Since the first day, I have had Dani Olmo. I played with him at Dinamo Zagreb six or seven years ago. It has been easy because the lads are young and it is like a family. It is very easy to adapt here. The goalkeeping coach, Joan and Tek are also fantastic lads. Tek spoke to me a lot today, and so did the coach. They have made things easy for me.”

Although there was not much Dominik Livakovic could have done to keep the ball from going in for Sevilla’s first goal of the match, the Croat still showed a need for improvement in this first game for Barcelona. This was particularly the case as he seemed inclined to clear the ball instead of maintaining possession, which is the usual way the club’s goalkeepers operate, but hopefully, he will improve in this regard as he gets more time to gel with his new teammates.