Fermin Lopez gets two assists to help Barcelona bounce back from rival defeat.

Rafa Mir scores one and hits the woodwork twice, as Elche struggle against La liga giants

Preview

Elche have looked very solid so far this season, coming into this game against Barcelona they have conceded only 10 goals, Elche have picked up 3 wins so far in the league this season, and in their biggest games held Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Athletic Club to draws.  Elche, so far, have defied expectation, this games is their biggest test of the season.

I interviewed an actual Elche fan, before and after the game, here is Vicente’s insight for the prematch:

[K]  “Elche have been incredible at the start of this season, so what is the expectation going into the match against a top team?”

[V] (Translated) As they already showed against Atlético de Madrid, Elche doesn’t change their style of play or their approach against big teams. We Elche fans had high expectations of putting in a good performance against a great side, knowing they would try to keep possession since that’s the style the coach has implemented. We knew it would be difficult to get a win after the defeat in the Clásico, but even so, they tried and had the chance to stand up to a great rival through their possession-based style of play. 

[V] Como ya demostros contra el atletico de madrid, el elche no cambia su estilo de juego o su forma de jugar ante equipos grandes, los aficionados del elche teniamos las espectativas de hacer un gran papel ante un gran equipo sabiendo que iba a intentar tener el balon ya que es el estilo que ha implementado el entrenador, sabiamos que era dificil conseguir una victoria despues de la derrota en el clasico pero aun asi lo intentaron y tuvieron la oportunidad de plantarle cara a un grab rival con su estilo de juego mediante la posesion del balon

Tactical Preview:

Elche are reliable in defense, tactically their 3 at the back formation has been incredible, Affengruber as a central center back acts as a sweeping center back, he stops the long balls and sweeps up any counter attacks all by himself. This allows the two other centerbacks to play with more risk, they push higher up and on average these center backs produce more balls into the opposition half then their central midfielders. The positioning and performance of the center backs is the most integral part of the team.

 Against the smaller teams like Levante and Real Oviedo, this system has worked perfectly, across the two games they average 64% possession, and limit the good quality chances their opposition has, in these cases they faced only 5 shots on target. Even against a good quality side like Athletic club, they had 69% possession and limited the side to 1 shot on target and only 4 shots in the whole game. But Barcelona is a huge step up tactically, they are known to dominate the possession in games, they have the highest average possession in the league (67.6%) and interestingly Elche are 3rd in this list (behind Real Madrid). Although losing the El classico, they did have more of the ball overall and limited Real Madrid to 32% possession.

This means coming into this game, Elche can’t play how they usually would, they would just get so dominated in terms of possession, and with the skill and quality of the Barcelona team, they can’t afford to let Barcelona keep having chances. So it will be interesting to see what September manager of the month Sarabia, will change to see how his team can compete against La Liga giants.

First Half

Elche did change tactics, and started the game with a 4-3-3 formation, with Affengruber coming into the right center back spot, and naturally club captain Bigas on the left. Inside 10 minutes Affengruber gave the ball away to Balde, in a dangerous position. Balde cuts inside and passes it to Lamal, who is kept onside by Bigas and in plenty of space, he takes two touches to move the ball onto his left foot as he finishes with ease, 1-0 Barcelona! 9′

Again through the right hand side of Elche’s defence, as pedrosa slips and loses the possession of the ball in the center of his half. This leaves space wide open for Fermin to run towards goal, before he accurately curves the ball past the outstretched leg of Affengruber, and directly to Ferran to make it 2-0 in the space of 3 minutes. 11′

Elche seemed unable to cope with Barca’s attack as in the 32’ minute the Elche defenders failed to clear the long ball from Szczesny. The header is hit straight to Fermin, who isn’t closed down by any Elche players, giving him time to let off a shot that goes wide narrowly. 32′

Elche got a goal back ten minutes later, against the run of play, Rafa Mir was found in space and it was Araujo who backed off the towering striker. Unfortunately, allowing him time to shift the ball onto his right foot and guide the finish into the bottom right corner to make it 2-1 at the end of the first half. 42′

Second Half

The second half gets underway and starts out with good play from the Elche side, it’s Silva who finds himself outside of the penalty box, but with no options to run ahead he produces a good bit of footwork before passing the ball across to Rafa Mir. It’s almost the exact same position of the first goal, but he takes it first time and the ball is just inches over the crossbar. 54′

Later on, in the 60th minute Fermin is making his way down the right hand side of the pitch, before he crosses the ball into Rashford, who takes it down gently. With quick feet, he gets past Pedrosa and it’s a great finish inside the post, with his left foot. That’s 3-1 Barcelona 61′

It’s agony again for Mir as he goes close to getting his second goal of the game, Pedrosa’s shot is blocked and falls kindly to Mir, who takes the shot towards the inside of the goal. On this occasion it hits the woodwork again and the game stays 3-1, and the full time whistle sounds. 90′

Man of The Match:

Fermin Lopez

Player rating: 8.8

Lopez was always there to pounce on Elche’s mistakes, he gets the credit for setting up two today and could’ve had a goal or two himself. If he improves his decision making in the final third I’m confident he will become a regular starter under Flick, but he did impress today.

Elche supporter Vicente’s post match insight:

[K] ” In the end Elche looked very close to scoring a couple more goals, do you think the team was a bit unlucky today?”

[V] (Translated) “You could call it bad luck, but it’s true that Elche is known for their attractive, attacking style based on possession – and that’s exactly what we saw in the match. They came close to equalizing, hitting the crossbar twice through striker Rafa Mir, but it’s really difficult to score against Barça.”

[V] “Se le podria llamar mala suerte, pero es verdad que el elche se caracteriza por un juego vistoso y de ataque mediante la posesion, que es lo que se vio en el partido, rozo el empate con dos largueros del delantero rafa mir pero es que es realmente dificil hacerle goles al barça”

[K]  “Elche haven’t lost at home this season, what would you say to Barcelona fans before the rematch at home (in February ) ?”

[V] “Bueno han visto lo que es capaz de hacer el equipo fuera de casa, que no se asusta contra un grande y es capaz de desplegar su juego, en casa sera mucho mas facil para el elche con el apollo de la aficion y el empuje que da el estadio. Al final el elche se caracteriza por hacerse fuerte en su estadio y conceder pocos puntos a los visitantes, que para mi es una de las claves para conseguir la salvacion que es el principal objetivo del club”

[V] (Translated) “Well, they’ve seen what the team is capable of doing away from home –  they don’t get intimidated by a big side and can still play their game. At home, it’ll be much easier for Elche with the support of the fans and the energy the stadium provides. In the end, Elche is known for being strong at home and giving away very few points to visiting teams, which for me is one of the keys to achieving survival –  the club’s main objective.”