Barcelona‘s shock Supercopa de Espana defeat at the hands of Athletic Bilbao rattled the club to its core. They bounced back to beat UE Cornella in the Copa del Rey. They didn’t do it with style and grace, but they got the job done with a good measure of tenacity and grit.
They were back in La Liga action this afternoon, locking horns with Elche at the Martinez Valero. It’s the seventh game in a row Barcelona have played away from home, but despite this they were still on the hunt for their fourth consecutive victory.
They got it. Barcelona won 2-0 with a goal either side of half-time, leapfrogging Sevilla into third and cutting the distance to league leaders Atletico Madrid to seven points.
Barcelona dominated the opening exchanges without providing much of a cutting edge, but they got their reward six minutes before the break. Martin Braithwaite played the ball from the left for Diego Gonzalez to accidentally direct it goal-wards, with Frenkie de Jong on hand to ensure it crossed the line.
De Jong was pivotal in Barcelona’s second, too, driving through the Elche defence, pulling right and then putting the ball on a plate for second-half substitute Riqui Puig, who made no mistake with a smart header to put the final nail in Elche’s coffin.
