Barcelona made it five La Liga victories in a row with a three-goal triumph over Elche to move top of La Liga ahead of Sunday night’s Madrid derby.
Robert Lewandowski netted twice for the home side with Memphis Depay also on target in a comfortable win over the league’s basement side, who played the majority of the game with 10 men after Gonzalo Verdu’s red card in the 14 th minute.
This was a routine victory for the Blaugrana after their midweek Champions League disappointing loss at Bayern Munich, with the visiting side not managing a shot on goal throughout the match. Here are five talking points from a very comfortable afternoon at the Camp Nou.
Lewandowski at the double
Robert Lewandowski is now up to 11 goals for the season in just eight appearances for his new club, for whom he has taken no time to adapt. The Poland international is averaging a goal every 57 minutes for Barca with his instincts in the box proving decisive.
Now aged 34, Lewandowski’s powers may be beginning to wane but there has been no evidence of that in the opening weeks of this campaign – with Barca fans believing his goals can help fire them to a title push.
Ansu Fati’s World Cup rush
Ansu Fati has been plagued by long-term injuries over the past two years but this season he has steered clear of any reoccurrence due to careful club management and an awareness not to rush him back to first-team action.
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The 19-year-old was again a substitute in this game – replacing Memphis Depay on the hour mark – meaning that he has been introduced in all six La Liga games so far without a start, while he was excluded from the recent Spain international squad for the upcoming Nations League matches.
There is now a concern for the player that he will miss his place in the Spain World Cup squad in two months time and without regularly starting games at the Camp Nou, that is unlikely to change soon.
Barca squad flex muscles
Xavi Hernandez made five changes to the Barcelona side that lost at Bayern Munich midweek, with the strength in depth of his squad evident. Quite simply, the Catalan club and Real Madrid have resources that blow away their domestic competition and with each game allowing five substitutions, it gives a distinct advantage.
Ansu Fati, Gavi, Raphina, Ferran Torres and Hector Bellerin were all introduced in this game as Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Andreas Christensen, Jordi Alba and Marcos Alonso did not even feature.
Elche in dee p trouble
This game was nothing more than a training exercise for Barcelona, even before the visitor’s early red card. This was another nothing performance from them, registering just 20 percent of possession and not having their first shot of any sort until the 90 th minute.
Their opening six league games have brought just one point and two goals, while seeing 16 goals fly in the wrong way. They are bottom of La Liga and there has been little to suggest across their opening six games that they have the capability of avoiding the drop.
VAR contro versies
This game was marked by officiating decisions. The early red card for Elche’s Verdu was slightly harsh but probably the right decision, although Barca may count themselves slightly fortunate that Franck Kessie was not sent-off for a second yellow after appearing to strike out at opponent John Donald.
Furthermore, Barca’s first two goals were only confirmed after relatively lengthy and tedious VAR checks, which also ruled out a third for Pedri before the break.
