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Elche are next in action in LaLiga against Valencia on the road next Saturday. Barcelona take on Rayo Vallecano in the Copa del Rey on the road on Wednesday.
Barcelona make it four wins on the bounce in LaLiga courtesy of a 2-0 triumph over Elche this afternoon. The Catalan club took the lead in the first half as Frenkie de Jong was on the spot to convert on the line, capitalising on Diego Gonzalez's miscued clearance. Barca took their time to kill off the contest and Marc-Andre ter Stegen was called on to make a crucial stop to deny Emiliano Rigoni. However, Riqui Puig secured the three points with a close-range header from De Jong's cross in the closing stages.
90' + 2' FULL-TIME: ELCHE 0-2 BARCELONA
90' There will be two minutes of added time.
86' WHAT A SAVE! Badia keeps Elche alive with a brilliant diving stop to deny Trincao. Griezmann surges into acres of space down the left flank. He delivers a perfect cross for Trincao to attack in the middle. The forward directs his header into the ground and towards goal, but the Elche keeper dives to his left to divert it away. A super reaction stop.
85' Pedri wins the ball in the middle of the park and has support in the form of Griezmann. He just overhits his throughball to the forward and allows Badia to gather in the box.
83' SAVE! Busquets plays Trincao in behind the Elche defence down the right flank. He cuts inside to shoot on his left foot, but Badia produces a fine stop to palm the ball away from goal.
81' Trincao and Pedrii exchange passes in the final third, but there is little support for the duo. An offload from Pedri towards Alba is cleared by Barragan.
79' Almiron will be pleased with his side's efforts defensively, but will be demanding more in the final 10 minutes to press for an equaliser.
77' Elche will still have belief that they can earn a share of the spoils here. Barcelona have shown very little threat in the final third in the second half.
74' OVER! Dembele works an offload to Alba from the resulting corner, but the full-back drills his right-footed strike well over the bar.
73' Pedri charges into the Elche box and tries to send a ball across the face of goal from the left inside channel. Josan blocks the cross with his arm and it travels behind. The referee deems that the Elche man was too close to Pedri for a penalty to be awarded and points for a corner.
72' Braithwaite takes on Gonzalez in the final third and breaks into the right inside channel. He tries to force a low ball towards Griezmann, but Verdu makes the interception in the middle.
71' Dembele has space on the right flank and he whips a cross into the box. Griezmann tries to attack it, but it sails over his head and into the hands of Badia.
70' Neither side have been able to find the answers to their solutions in the second half. Elche are still trailing, while Barca have not been able to put the game beyond the reach of the home side. We're set for an interesting final 20 minutes.
67' Pedri makes a good run through the heart of the Elche midfield. He lines up a drive that deflects off Rodriguez and travels towards the target. Badia watches it all the way and claims it before it can travel behind.
64' The game is still in the balance and Koeman may be considering his options to find the decisive second goal.
62' WIDE! Umtiti plays Pedri into space and the Spaniard looks up to spot Griezmann on the edge of the box. He offloads to the Frenchman, who takes a touch but then places a tame effort on the half-volley wide of the right post.
60' Josan is caught by Busquets in the middle of the park, but the Barcelona man escapes a booking.
58' Rigoni should have levelled the scores there. Elche will not have many better opportunities. Barca are fortunate the home side were unable to capitalise on that defensive lapse.
56' SAVE! Barca react at the other end to the threat. Pedri works an offload to Dembele, who carves out room for a strike on his left foot. Badia dives to his right and palms it away from danger.
56' CHANCE! Rigoni has to score. The forward capitalise on a mistake by Mingueza and only has Ter Stegen to beat. However, he stumbles before his eventual strike is blocked by the legs of the Barcelona keeper.
55' Pedri scoops a ball over the top for Griezmann to chase. Gonzalez stretches to clear ahead of the forward, but it deflects off the Frenchman and travels just over the bar.
53' The second half appears to be following the same pattern as the first. Barcelona are comfortable in possession without being overly creative.
51' Raul Guti lines up a strike to nothing from 20 yards after being teed up by Josan, but he drags his strike wide of the right post.
49' De Jong appeals for a penalty as the ball rises and strikes Gonzalez on the hand after the Dutchman miscontrols in the box. However, the referee dismisses their claim.
48' Griezmann sends Alba down the left inside channel and he fires a low ball across the face of goal, but there's no Barca player on hand to capitalise.
46' We're back underway in this LaLiga clash.
Elche have been too passive in their approach against a weakened Barca without Messi. They've had a couple of moments through Raul Guti and Josan Fernandez, but need to be braver in the second half to get back into the contest.
Barcelona lead Elche 1-0 at the break in their LaLiga clash. Frenkie de Jong capitalised on a miscued clearance from Diego Gonzalez to score on the line to put the Catalan club ahead just before half-time. It had been a quiet affair for the majority of the first period. However, Barca produced a moment of quality from Martin Braithwaite to force a mistake with an accurate cross, allowing them to hold the advantage at the interval.
45' HALF-TIME: ELCHE 0-1 BARCELONA
45' A mistake from Rodriguez almost allows Pedri to send Griezmann through on goal, but the ball has just too much pace on it, allowing Badia to gather.
43' Elche will have to break out of their defensive strategy in the second half. They've been a bit too passive and have paid the price.
41' SAVE! Boye finds Josan in space on the right flank after a slip by Umtiti and he cuts inside to power an effort towards the bottom-right corner. However, Ter Stegen gets down to parry the strike before gathering it at the second attempt.
38' Barcelona are dominating possession, earning 62.6% of the ball in the opening 38 minutes.
36' WIDE! Griezmann fires the resulting set-piece low and hard into the box. Mojica gets a foot in the way to clear, but only as far as Pedri. The midfielder rifles a strike towards the target, but it travels with pace wide of the right post.
35' Dembele and Mojica have a tangle of legs down the right flank, but the referee awards a free-kick to the visitors. Elche are not thrilled with the decision.
34' SAVE! Pedri turns in the box, but sees his path to goal blocked. He works an offload to Busquets on the edge of the box, who fires a low strike towards the net, only to be denied by a solid stop from Badia.
32' Elche are not offering a great deal going forward, but considering their recent form, Almiron will be satisfied with their display at the back.
30' Barca try to work through Dembele, but the Elche defence is out to the winger to suppress his threat before he can advance further into the final third.
29' WIDE! Dembele does well down the right flank and he creates room for a cross. It gets deflected out to the left inside channel as far as Alba. The Spaniard connects first time on the half-volley, but his effort travels wide of the left post.
27' Elche are proving a tough nut to crack for the visitors. There's no pace or fluidity to Barca's game at the moment.
25' Dembele cuts inside from the right flank with menace and tries to carve out space for a strike on his left foot. However, he gets crowded out and dispossessed before he can pull the trigger.
24' Rigoni catches Mingueza from behind and concedes a free-kick. Dembele lifts the set-piece into the box, but the home side are able to clear the danger.
22' There has not been a great tempo to the contest. It has been a stop-start game, which will play into the hands of the home side rather than Barca.
20' CHANCE! Elche work the ball neatly in the final third as Boye releases Rigoni. He lays a pass back to Mojica, who lifts a cross into the middle. Raul Guti attacks the delivery, only to glance his header over the bar.
18' OVER! Griezmann pulls the trigger after Barcelona recycle possession, but the Frenchman can only scoop his effort over the bar.
17' Barcelona probe down the left after Braithwaite wins a free-kick. Griezmann digs out a cross from the left inside channel, but the home side clear their lines from the goalline.
15' Dembele twists and turns on the edge of the Elche box, but he sees his effort charged down. Alba digs out a cross from deep, aiming towards Araujo. Badia comes off his line and claims well under pressure.
14' Josan stretches to prevent Alba from latching onto De Jong's ball over the top down the left flank, although he concedes a corner in the process.
12' SAVE! Dembele whips the resulting free-kick into the box and Griezmann stoops low to meet it, glancing a header towards goal. However, his effort is tame and straight at Badia.
11' Rodriguez brings down De Jong in the Elche half, handing Barca a free-kick in a useful position.
9' De Jong applies pressure with a run at the Elche defence, but he loses out under duress from Verdu and the ball travels behind for a goal-kick.
7' Mingueza is played into space down the right flank, but he gets his cross all wrong, sending it behind for a goal-kick.
6' OVER! Dembele swings the resulting corner into the box on his right foot, and although Araujo meets the delivery, he can only head over the bar from close range. The ball appeared to take a deflection off Verdu just before the Barca defender connected with his header.
5' Barca press down the left flank and win a corner as Dembele's cross strikes the legs of Barragan.
2' Boye tries to release Mojica into space down the left flank, but the full-back is caught offside.
1' We're underway in this LaLiga contest.
Elche have not won any of their last 15 LaLiga games against Barcelona (D4, L11), since their victory (1-0) at Altabix in December 1974.
Barcelona are still without Lionel Messi as he serves the final game of his two-match suspension following his dismissal against Athletic Bilbao. Barca have made seven changes to their side that beat Cornella. Ter Stegen returns between the posts in place of Neto, while Alba and Umtiti start in the back four in place of Lenglet and Firpo. De Jong and Busquets start in the midfield, while Pedri and Dembele join Griezmann and Braithwaite in the final third.
Elche have made three changes to their side that drew against Valladolid last time out. Gonalez comes into the back four to start ahead of Josema, who drops to the bench. Marcone and Rodriguez get the nod in the middle of the park, with the former returning from suspension. Jony Carmona misses out this afternoon, while Milla drops to the bench to accommodate Marcone and Rodriguez.
BARCELONA SUBS: Sergino Dest, Miralem Pjanic, Riqui Puig, Neto, Clement Lenglet, Trincao, Matheus Fernandes, Junior Firpo, Konrad De la Fuente, Aranu Tenas.
BARCELONA (4-2-3-1): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Oscar Mingueza, Ronald Araujo, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong; Antoine Griezmann, Pedri, Ousmane Dembele; Martin Braithwaite.
ELCHE SUBS: Diego Rodriguez, Nina, Pere Milla, Tete Morente, Luismi, Jeison Lucumi, Cifu, Josema, John Donald, Gerard Barri, Jose Salinas.
ELCHE (4-4-2): Edgar Badia; Antonio Barragan, Gonzalo Verdu, Diego Gonzalez, Johan Mojica; Josan, Ivan Marcone, Raul Guit, Victor Rodriguez; Emiliano Rigoni, Lucas Boye.
Barcelona made hard work of their Copa del Rey clash against Cornella on the road. The third-tier outfit forced extra-time before Ousmane Dembele and Martin Braithwaite secured the win for the Catalan club. Ronald Koeman's side have won their last three league matches on the bounce, but they remain 10 points of the pace of Atletico Madrid at the top of LaLiga. They need to keep up the pressure today.
Elche are winless in their last 12 matches in LaLiga, which has left the club sitting in 18th place in the table. Last time out they did storm into a 2-0 lead against Real Valladolid courtesy of a brace from Josan Fernandez. However, Valladolid battled back to earn a share of the spoils. Jorge Almiron is under pressure and needs a positive result to guide the newly-promoted side away from danger at the foot of the table.
Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the LaLiga clash between Elche and Barcelona at the Martinez Valero.
