Three takeaways from Elche 1-3 Barcelona

Barcelona dominated, but did not demolish Elche last night at Estadio Martinez Valero last night when they faced off on Matchday 22 of La Liga.

For the dominance Barcelona had and the chances they created, Hansi Flick and Co. should have scored as many as ten goals on the night. What they managed at the end, however, was a 3-1 win that was nervy until the very end.

The team’s performance brings many positives, as well as some points to reflect on for the management – but the players largely did well on an individual level. Most importantly, the win helps Barcelona regain a temporary four-point cushion in the standings.

Barça Universal brings you three takeaways from Elche 1-3 Barcelona.

Chance-creating machines

While a lot will be said about the chances Barcelona missed against Elche last night, and the matter will likely be forgotten given that they took all three points, there is simply no way to deny the chance-creating machines Hansi Flick has turned Barcelona into.

Elche may not be the strongest opponents Barcelona have faced, nor was their style of play overly defensive to suffocate and resist Catalans’ attacks. 

However, the threat Flick’s side created and the ease with which they did so once more just makes it clear how high a ceiling the team possesses.

Over the ninety minutes last night, the Blaugrana created a staggering xG of 6.24, the highest ever recorded in La Liga since the parameter began being tracked.

They had a massive ten big chances on the night, with the opportunities being equally distributed among all players in the final third, and took a total of 30 shots against Elche.

Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, and Ferran Torres could have all had braces of their own, if not more, and Flick will be pleased with how seamlessly his side creates openings in attack.

Clinical finishing and its need aside, it is far superior to have a team that creates chances and struggles to convert compared to one that struggles to create chances at all. The ceiling of this Barcelona side is sky-high.

Yamal and De Jong take control

Unstoppable. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

While Barcelona delivered a dominant performance against Eder Sarabia’s men last night in all respects, barring their finishing, two. players stood out head and shoulders above the rest – Frenkie de Jong and Lamine Yamal.

Yamal, for starters, enjoyed what was perhaps his most dominant performance of the season as a chance-creator. His dribbling, comfort on the ball, and link-up play were splendid – helping him create chance after chance with ease.

In 90 minutes, Yamal had an xG of over 1 himself and scored the team’s opener with a calm finish. He had a total of five shots of which three were on target.

Yamal also completed four dribbles, had a stunning eight key passes, and an xA tally of one. In fact, it was his solo effort and dribble that single-handedly created Barcelona’s third goal on the night.

Meanwhile, Frenkie de Jong delivered a captain’s performance in midfield and led from the front in the absence of Pedri.

The Dutchman took responsibility for controlling the tempo of the game against an opposition who were also vying for an equal share of the ball. He drove the ball forward with conviction and balanced his attacking responsibilities with the defensive ones.

A large part of the credit for Barcelona’s control of the proceedings goes to De Jong, and he also effectively shut out several Elche counter-attacks at the root level. Most importantly, he provided a great assist for the team’s second goal on the night.

Serious scope to improve

Most of the takeaways Flick will have from the clash on Saturday night will be positive ones, especially given how his side have again mounted pressure on Real Madrid, who are yet to play in the matchday.

There must, however, be a serious reflection on the team missing so many chances in broad daylight – something that did not matter much last night but will be critical as the season progresses.

Playing at the highest level, a large part of missing so many chances falls on misfortune, and it is clear that they were unlucky on many levels with several of the chances created against Elche.

Concurrently, however, Flick must reflect on the fact that this is not the first time that this has happened. Having struggled away against Real Sociedad with the same issues recently, not everything can be attributed to a lack of fortune.

A serious effort must be placed on improving the team’s clinical finishing, for such missed chances will cost the team dearly on the bigger stages as the season progresses.