Barca beat Elche to recover from Clasico loss
Barcelona secured a 3-1 victory against Elche in La Liga on Sunday, with goals from Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford helping them recover from their recent Clasico setback.
Ferran Torres also scored for the Catalan club, which returned to second position, now five points behind Real Madrid at the top.
The team faced defensive issues once more, allowing Elche opportunities to draw level, including a goal by Rafa Mir, who also struck the frame of the goal twice.
Under Hansi Flick, Barcelona has not managed a shutout in their last six league matches, amid ongoing problems with injuries.
Several key players like Pedri, Gavi, and Joan Garcia were absent, yet the squad welcomed back Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo after their time on the sidelines.
The young talent Yamal had a subdued performance in the prior loss to Real Madrid following his recovery from a groin injury, but he appeared sharper in this encounter with Elche.
"We rediscovered our energy and drive," Torres shared with DAZN.
"I believe we are regaining the form of last season's Barcelona, pushing hard from start to finish, and we will continue in that vein."
Guided by Eder Sarabia, who once assisted at Barcelona under Quique Setien, the ninth-placed away side played boldly and put on a strong showing.
Barcelona went ahead in the ninth minute as Alejandro Balde advanced and passed to Yamal inside the box.
The winger controlled the ball neatly before delivering a precise shot beyond ex-Barcelona keeper Inaki Pena, his former colleague from the previous campaign.
Just three minutes on, Torres made it 2-0 by converting a close-range effort after Fermin Lopez surged down the left flank and supplied a pinpoint delivery.
The forward lifted his shirt to honour Valencia, his native area, marking one year since the devastating floods affected Spain's eastern region.
Efforts from Lopez and Rashford sailed just wide, and Pena denied Torres with a fine stop, as Barcelona missed several decent openings.
Before the break, Mir reduced the deficit, having faced charges in October related to sexual assault claims from 2024.
The home defence attempted an offside trap, but Mir started from midfield when released. He curled his attempt around Ronald Araujo and keeper Wojciech Szczesny, finding the net at the far corner.
Torres came close to adding another before half-time, only for Pena to make an excellent intervention and deflect the ball away.
Our identity
Soon after the restart, Mir nearly equalised with a looping shot that grazed the crossbar, as Elche kept pressing.
Rashford confirmed the win for Barcelona with an excellent strike, set up by a well-weighted pass from Lopez, marking his second La Liga goal this season.
In the closing moments, experienced shot-stopper Szczesny parried a Mir attempt onto the upright, preventing any late anxiety for the leaders.
"We stick to our style and apply it versus every opponent. That effort has brought us success, and abandoning it would not help," Elche's Alvaro Nunez commented on their forward-thinking approach.
"We stayed true to ourselves, and the supporters appreciate our effort," added manager Sarabia.
"It's expected that they find the net against us, yet we created enough to score ourselves."