Raphinha and Fermín star on debut, Barça thrash Anselmi's Elche 5-0 | OneFootball

Barcelona began the defense of their crown with a commanding 5-0 win over Elche on the opening matchday of the Spanish league. Despite missing several key players and lining up without a traditional center-forward in the box, Hansi Flick’s side unleashed its full attacking arsenal and quickly put an end to its rival’s hopes.

Elche’s initial approach, under Martín Anselmi, showed good intentions based on possession and wing play, especially down Germán Valera’s flank. However, that bold proposal proved costly defensively against the speed of Barcelona’s counterattacks. Argentines Matías Dituro,Federico Redondo and Facundo Buonanotte all saw minutes for the home side.

The turning point and the burst before halftime

The scoring opened in the 13th minute of the first half. Pressured in buildup by the Blaugrana attack, Elche made a mistake that Fermín took advantage of to set up Raphinha, who was brought down by Chust inside the box. The Brazilian winger converted the penalty himself with precision to make it 1-0.

From there, the match slipped into a lull of inaccuracies, with the home side threatening only through a shot from Ali Houary. The turning point came near the end of the first half with Gavi’s injury; the introduction of Pedri restored order and composure to Barcelona’s midfield. Just before the break, another ball recovery allowed Raphinha to play in Karim Adeyemi, who finished to extend the lead to 2-0.

Total control and an assist hat trick in the second half

In the second half, Barcelona’s dominance became even more evident against an opponent that ran out of physical answers. Although Buonanotte led Elche’s attempts to pull one back by hitting the post with one effort and then losing a one-on-one with goalkeeper Joan García, the visitors’ clinical edge snuffed out any chance of a comeback.

Anthony Gordon’s introduction transformed the final third. The attacker first set up Raphinha, who grabbed his brace and made it 3-0. Later, Gordon himself exploited the spaces in Elche’s defense to provide two more assists for Fermín. The youngster wrapped up the fourth and fifth goals in the 79th minute, putting the finishing touches on an ideal opening performance for the reigning league champion.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.