Given the dominance that Barcelona had and the opportunities they created, Hansi Flick and company should have scored up to ten goals that night. However, what they achieved in the end was a 3-1 victory that kept them nervous until the end.
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The team’s performance provides many positives, as well as some food for thought for the management, but the players did well on an individual level. The most important thing is that the victory helps Barcelona regain a temporary cushion of four points in the standings.
Barça Universal brings you three conclusions from Elche 1-3 Barcelona.
Opportunity-creating machines
While much will be said about the chances Barcelona missed against Elche last night, and the matter will probably be forgotten given they took the three points, there is simply no denying the chance-creating machines that Hansi Flick has turned Barcelona into.
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Elche may not be the strongest opponent Barcelona has ever faced, nor was their style of play too defensive to stifle and resist the Catalans’ attacks.
However, the threat that Flick’s team created and the ease with which they did so once again makes it clear how high the ceiling the team possesses.
During the ninety minutes last night, the blaugrana created an astonishing xG of 6.24, the highest ever recorded in La Liga since the metric began to be tracked.
They had ten great chances that night, and the chances were evenly distributed among all players in the final third, and they took a total of 30 shots against Elche.
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Lamine Yamal, Fermín López, Dani Olmo, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres could have had their own doubles, if not more, and Flick will be pleased with the fluidity with which his team creates openings in attack.
Clinical completion and its necessity aside, it is far superior to have a team that creates opportunities and strives to convert compared to one that struggles to create opportunities. The ceiling of this Barça team is sky high.
Yamal and De Jong take command
Unstoppable. (Photo by Ángel Martínez/Getty Images)
While Barcelona had a dominant performance last night against Eder Sarabia’s men in every aspect except the finishing, two. The players stood out far above the rest: Frenkie de Jong and Lamine Yamal.
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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 combination play were splendid, helping him create chance after chance with ease.
In the 90th minute, Yamal had an xG of over 1 and scored the team’s first goal with a calm finish. He fired a total of five shots, three of which were on goal.
Yamal also completed four dribbles, made an impressive eight key passes and had a total xA of one. In fact, it was his solo effort and dribbling that single-handedly created Barcelona’s third goal that night.
Meanwhile, Frenkie de Jong put in a captain’s performance in midfield and led from the front in Pedri’s absence.
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The Dutchman assumed the responsibility of controlling the pace of the match against an opponent who was also competing for an equal share of the ball. He drove the ball with conviction and balanced his offensive and defensive responsibilities.
Much of the credit for Barcelona’s control of proceedings goes to De Jong, and he also effectively blocked several Elche counterattacks at root level. Most importantly, he provided a great assist for the team’s second goal that night.
Great room for improvement.
Most of the takeaways Flick will draw from Saturday night’s clash will be positive, especially considering how his team has once again put pressure on Real Madrid, who have not yet played in the matchday.
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However, there needs to be some serious reflection on the fact that the team missed so many opportunities in broad daylight, something that didn’t 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 comes down to misfortune, and it is clear that they were unlucky on many levels with several of the chances created against Elche.
At the same time, Flick must reflect on the fact that this is not the first time this has happened. Having recently struggled against Real Sociedad with the same problems, not everything can be attributed to a lack of fortune.
A serious effort must be made to improve the team’s clinical finishing, as those missed opportunities will cost the team dearly in the biggest scenarios as the season progresses.