BARCELONA. FC Barcelona topped Elche. FC Barcelona was truly better in terms of ball possession (74%) and that was among the factors of its victory.​

The match was played at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Saturday and it started at 6:30 pm local time. The referee was Javier Alberola Rojas who had the assistance of Teodoro Sobrino Magán and Iván Hernández Ramos. The 4th official was David Cambronero González. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was cold at 10.1 degrees Celsius or 50.13 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 84%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

FC Barcelona had a superior ball possession 74% while Elche was struggling with a 26% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

FC Barcelona was more pushing with 77 dangerous attacks and 20 shots of which 8 were on target. This is one of the reasons why FC Barcelona won the match​.

FC Barcelona shot 20 times, 8 on target, 12 off target. On the opposite side, Elche shot 6 times, 3 on target, 3 off target.

Cards

FC Barcelona received 1 yellow card (E. Garcia). Talking about the opposition, Elche received 3 yellow cards (P. Milla, G. Gumbau and E. Roco).

Standings

After playing this encounter, FC Barcelona will have 27 points to hold in the 7th place. On the other side, Elche will stay with 15 points like Deportivo Alavés to remain in the 16th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the La Liga, FC Barcelona will play away against Mallorca on the 2nd of January with a 16-2 head to head in favor of FC Barcelona (2 draws).

Elche will host Granada on the 2nd of January with a 6-1 head to head record in favor of Granada (7 draws).

FC Barcelona – Formation

FC Barcelona started with a 3-3-1-3 line-up (3-3-1-3).

The manager Xavier Hernández Creus decided to play with the following team: Marc-André ter Stegen (6.4), Ronald Araújo (6.8), Eric García (7.0), Clément Lenglet (7.4), Frenkie de Jong (6.2), Sergio Busquets (6.2), Jordi Alba (6.8), Gavi (8.1), Ousmane Dembélé (8.0), Ferran Jutglà (7.4) and Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (7.2).

The home team had on the bench: S. Umtiti, Riqui Puig (6.5), Óscar Mingueza, Nicolás González (7.6), Neto, L. de Jong, Guillem Jaime, Philippe Coutinho, Álvaro Sanz, Iñaki Peña and Alejandro Balde.

FC Barcelona could not rely on the presence of Nico (injured).

Substitutions

FC Barcelona made 4 changes: F. Jutgla for Nico (72′), F. de Jong for R. Puig (76′), A. Ezzalzouli for A. Balde (89′) and A. Ezzalzouli for A. Balde (89′).

Best player: Gavi​

The player that probably impressed the most for FC Barcelona was Gavi.

His rating is (8.1) with 1 goal, 63 passes (96% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 10 duels out of 16. He performed 1 cross.

Elche – Formation

Elche started with a conservative line-up (4-4-2).

Francisco Javier Rodríguez Vílchez played with: Edgar Badia (6.7), Helibelton Palacios (7.1), Enzo Roco (6.3), Diego Gonzalez (6.4), Johan Mojica (6.3), Josan (6.4), Iván Marcone (6.3), Omar Mascarell (6.6), Fidel (6.8), Lucas Pérez (6.8) and Lucas Boyé (7.0).

The following players were sitting on the bench: J. Pastore, A. Werner, John Nwankwo, G. Carrillo, Jony Álamo, Pere Milla (7.0), Gerard Gumbau (6.6), Jose Morente (7.9), Raúl Guti (6.4), Josema (6.4), P. Piatti and Barragán.

Elche could not rely on the presence of Josema (injured).

Substitutions

Elche made 5 changes: I. Marcone for G. Gumbau (46′), Josan for Tete Morente (46′), O. Mascarell for R. Guti (60′), Fidel for P. Milla (60′) and J. Mojica for Josema (83′).

Best player: Jose Morente​

The player that probably impressed the most for Elche was Jose Morente.

His rating is (7.9) with 1 goal, 6 passes (50% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 3 duels out of 10. He performed 2 crosses.

His performance was remarkable also because he started the match from the bench before entering the filed in the 46′.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the La Liga.​

• FC Barcelona – Elche – 3-2
• Real Sociedad – Villarreal – 1-3
• Sevilla – Atlético Madrid – 2-1
• Rayo Vallecano – Deportivo Alavés – 2-0