Despite the heavy wins Barcelona had orchestrated in recent games, everyone understood the Elche one was always going to be tricky. Xavi described them as a very intense side who doesn’t easily fold.
Going into the match, Xavi made decent changes to the lineup he used against Bilbao. He chose Ter Stegen in post, lined Araujo, Pique, Alba and Alves at the back, maintained his midfield of Busquets, Frenkie and Pedri, and dropped Adama and Ferran to accommodate Gavi and Dembele.
Barcelona began the game well, passing the ball like they always do. However, the compactness of Elche couldn’t allow penetrative passes. Xavi’s team decided to use long balls to split the resolute defense. After few minutes, the Catalans created clear-cut chances; Frenkie missed two decent ones and Dembele failed on one occasion. Elche grew confident and started to attack Barca through fast counterattacks. They could have scored two easy goals during that period. Few minutes to the halftime break, Pedri’s clearance turned into an assist for Elche’s Fidel to break the deadlock. Barcelona went to the break trailing by a lone goal.
The mental toughness Xavi and his team displayed in the second half is all the signs you need to know Barca are on their way to glory days. Ferran Torres came on to equalize in the 60th minute. Then, Adama and Memphis came on to drive a successful comeback. Memphis scored the winner by converting a spot kick.
Aside Barcelona playing good football, the team has developed a special mentality. This is what makes them unplayable. At the moment, they’ve moved to the third spot with 48 points and a game at hand.
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