Barcelona once again showed their attacking prowess and rediscovered their joy in LaLiga at the expense of Elche, who, despite falling 3-1 at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, put up a fought throughout and challenged them for both possession and the peace of the game. The Elche team arrived at the match in poor form, having only earned one point out of the last nine available, but at Montjuic they offered glimpses of the football that had allowed them to remain undefeated during the first seven rounds, although this time the scoreline did not reflect their effort. Eder Sarabia surprised everyone by playing his full-backs on their weaker flanks, ostensibly to better control Lamine Yamal and Rashford, Barca's wingers on their weaker flanks. However, Alvaro Nunez, right-footed on the left, fell for Lamine's cutback for the 1-0. And Pedrosa, left-footed on the right, misjudged the play that led to the 2-0. These two defensive errors by Elche conditioned the start of the match, as the Alicante team found themselves facing an uphill battle in just eleven minutes. Something that certainly wasn't on their agenda for trying to beat Barcelona away from home for the first time. Elche started well, but in the 9th minute, Balde capitalized on a Barcelona turnover in their own half, stealing the ball, accelerating, and setting up Lamine Yamal, who cut inside past Alvaro Nunez with his left foot before firing past Inaki Pena from the penalty spot. The Barcelona number 10, whose groin injury had prevented him from shining in recent matches, angrily bit and kissed the badge. The second goal, which came two minutes later, also had a special celebration. Pedrosa slipped on the next defensive play, and Fermin took advantage, cutting in down the left flank and setting up Ferran Torres, who easily tapped the ball into the back of the net. The player from Foios wanted to dedicate the goal to his hometown, on the anniversary of the floods devastating.And he lifted his Barcelona jersey to reveal the message 'Valencia always in the memory' on another shirt he was wearing underneath his official one.

Elche, a team well-drilled in positional play,tried to regroup with a high press and their usual skillful ball control, but they lacked decisiveness and an extra gear as they approached Szczesny's goal.

So it was Barcelona who almost scored a third just after the half-hour mark, with shots from the edge of the box by Fermin and Ferran that were saved by an inspired Inaki Pena.

But in the 42nd minute, Elche finally strung together a counter-attack that was finished off by Rafa Mir, who beat an overly passive Araujo and made it 1-2 with a well-placed shot to Szczesny's far post.

They still had Hansi Flick's men had time to make it 3-1 before halftime, but Pena prevented it again, making his case once more against his former club, who have loaned him to Sarabia's team, with a point-blank save from Ferran Torres. A goal disallowed for Rashford due to an offside by Fermin and a shot against the crossbar by Rafa Mir opened the second half. Barca felt comfortable with their transitional play and high-tempo football in an end-to-end match, but this allowed Elche to also feel close to an equalizer. Until Rashford and Fermin appeared again around the hour mark. The Spaniard, a dagger every time he runs into space, set up the Englishman with a sublime switch of play. The Englishman controlled the ball, cut inside, and unleashed an unstoppable shot past Inaki Pena to put the lead back in the game. Flick then substituted Fermin, thinking ahead to the next Champions League match against Club Brugge, and gave Olmo his first minutes back after injury. And in the very next play, Szczesny and the post denied Rafa Mir another goal in a move heavily protested by the Montjuic crowd. Rashford was stunned on the pitch after a clash with Affengruber, yet referee Miguel Sesma did not stop the game. Brave, man-marking, and pressing Barcelona high up the pitch, Elche tried to reduce the deficit until the final whistle. Helped in part by the desire to prove himself of Hector Fort, another of the academy players on loan from Barcelona, ????who came off the bench and had a very good spell as a wing-back. But neither Mir – by then very tired – nor the recently substituted John, whose diving header went narrowly wide, managed to add more excitement to the game in the final stretch. It would have been even less exciting if Lamine Yamal, who was largely anonymous for much of the second half, hadn't blasted a shot from the penalty spot over the bar. *With information from EFE.

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