Hans Flick, the coach of Barcelona, expressed his great pleasure with his team’s level during the 3-1 victory over Elche in the eleventh round of the Spanish League. He emphasized that what pleased him most was the advanced pressing and the fighting spirit shown by the players throughout the match.
Flick said after the match: “I am very happy with the team. I liked the players’ performance and the way they pressed. We played better than in previous matches, we pressed as a unit and possessed the ball well. The first goals came as a result of this pressure, and that is what I want from my team.”
The German coach pointed out that the priority for Barcelona at the present time is to continue collecting points and developing performance gradually.
He stated: “What matters today is winning. Against a team that I like very much, like Elche, we pressed intensely and created many opportunities, but we did not take advantage of them all. Step by step, this is what is important now.”
Regarding the level of the opponent, Hans Flick said: “Elche is a team that I liked, they tried to possess the ball and played bravely.”
Regarding Pedri’s absence, Flick explained that the team is fully aware of his importance, but he stressed the need to deal with him carefully.
He added: “Everyone knows that Pedri is an exceptional player, and we always want him with us, but we have to be careful. The most important thing today is that we won and the players performed well despite the absences.”
The German coach also praised Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres in particular, after their brilliance in the match, saying: “Marcus is an amazing player, and Ferran presented wonderful moments. I am very happy with them, as they were among the most prominent elements of the team in the last two training sessions, and this was clear in the match.”
Regarding the defensive aspect and the mistakes that caused the team to concede a goal, Flick commented: “If the two teams had taken advantage of all their chances, the match would have ended with a score of 6-2 or 5-2. But this is a new step forward, we have two matches before the international break and we want to win them, the first of which is in the Champions League next Wednesday.”
In conclusion, Flick discussed the situation of Lamine Yamal, explaining that the injury still requires careful follow-up: “We have to manage his injury well, he is disciplined and performs the treatment as he should, but the injury comes and goes, and it must be dealt with carefully.”
Barcelona returned to winning ways in the Spanish League, winning (3-1) against Elche, on Sunday evening, at the “Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium”, in the 11th round.
Barcelona’s goals in the match were scored by Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, and Marcus Rashford in the (9th, 11th, and 61st) minutes.
While Rafa Mir scored Elche’s only goal in the 42nd minute.
With this victory, Barcelona raised its score to 25 points in second place in the Spanish League standings, 5 points behind leaders Real Madrid, while Elche’s score froze at 14 points in ninth place.
Barcelona regained the tune of victory in the league, after losing in El Clásico against Real Madrid (2-1) in the last round.
According to the “Opta” statistics network, Lamine Yamal has scored 17 goals in 80 matches in the Spanish League.
Only Kylian Mbappé (23 goals) has scored more goals before his nineteenth birthday in the top five European leagues in the twenty-first century.
As for Ferran Torres, he scored his 50th goal in Barcelona’s shirt in all competitions (during 170 matches), with 25 goals under the leadership of Xavi Hernandez and 25 goals under the leadership of Hans Flick.
A promising start
The match began at the Montjuïc stadium at a fast pace, as Elche took the initiative to attack from the first minute when Germán Valera sent a dangerous cross inside the penalty area, but Alejandro Balde intervened at the last moment to prevent Rafa Mir from scoring.
In the second minute, Lamine Yamal showed the first threat, as he dribbled past Elche’s defense inside the area and passed a cross that reached De Jong, but the referee stopped play for offside.
Marcus Rashford tried in the third minute to penetrate the visitors’ defense, but the ball went too far from him and a promising opportunity was lost.
One minute later, Rafa Mir fell into the offside trap again, in a scene that was repeated with his teammate Valera in the sixth minute.
In the ninth minute, Barça opened the scoring with a wonderful goal from Lamine Yamal, who received a perfect pass from Balde inside the area, skillfully manipulated the Elche defender, then fired a powerful left-footed shot into the far corner, announcing the home side’s lead.
Only two minutes later, specifically in the 11th minute, Ferran Torres added the second goal after a successful press from Fermin in the middle of the field, allowing the latter to break away and pass the ball to Torres in front of the goal, who easily put it into the net.
Elche received an early shock, as they found themselves trailing by two goals in the first quarter of an hour.
The visiting team tried to regain its balance, but Barcelona’s defense was more vigilant.
In the 23rd minute, captain Bigas intercepted a dangerous pass from De Jong towards Torres, preventing a sure goal.
Barcelona continued its pressure, and Fermin fired a powerful shot in the 24th minute but it went over the bar.
In the 33rd minute, Fermin almost scored the third goal after the defense changed the trajectory of his shot to go just wide of the post. A minute later, Rashford responded with a shot from outside the area, but it did not find its way towards the goal.
In the 38th minute, the English striker returned to threaten Elche’s goal again with a powerful shot that hit the foot of a defender and went over the bar.
Then in the 39th minute, Ferran Torres almost scored his second goal, were it not for the brilliance of goalkeeper Iñaki Peña.
Three minutes before the end of the first half, Rafa Mir restored hope to Elche, after receiving a wonderful pass from Álvaro Núñez, and broke away with it quickly, overcame Araujo and shot powerfully into the near post, reducing the difference to 1-2 in the 42nd minute. After reviewing the video, the goal was confirmed to be correct in the 43rd minute.
Torres almost restored the two-goal difference in the 45+1 minute with a powerful shot inside the area, but Peña brilliantly saved it, ending the first half with Barcelona leading (2-1).
With the start of the second half, Rashford had a dangerous opportunity in the 46th minute after a wonderful through pass, but he shot just wide of the post.
Three minutes later, Febas sent a cross for Elche that André Silva did not reach.
In the 51st minute, the referee disallowed a goal for Barcelona scored by Rashford for offside on Fermin.
Elche returned to come close to equalizing in the 54th minute, when Rafa Mir fired a powerful shot that rebounded off the crossbar, before hitting the post again in the 67th minute.
But the Catalan response was harsh in the 61st minute, when Fermin passed a magical pass to Marcus Rashford, who received the ball skillfully, dribbled past his defender, and fired a resounding shot that hit the crossbar and settled into the net, scoring the third goal in a wonderful way.
In the following minutes, the pace slowed down slightly with mutual attempts from both sides, the most prominent of which was Lamine Yamal’s shot in the 77th minute that went over the goal after a mistake from goalkeeper Peña, missing the fourth goal.
Barcelona’s control continued in the final minutes of the match, ensuring that the Catalan team won and gained the three points.
