Barcelona beat Elche 3-1 to stay in touch with La Liga leaders Real Madrid

Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, and Marcus Rashford scored for Barcelona in a 3-1 victory over Elche, lifting them from last weekend’s El Clasico defeat and moving them back to second place, five points clear of Real Madrid.

Elche had opportunities to turn things around for Barca on Sunday, scoring through Rafa Mir, who also struck twice on the woodwork.

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In the midst of an injury crisis, Hansi Flick’s Barca have struggled to keep a clean sheet in six league games.

Following brief absences from action, the champions were able to add Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo, along with Pedri, Gavi, and Joan Garcia.

After recovering from a groin issue, Lamine Yamal, a teen star, performed better in last week’s defeat at Real Madrid, but he appeared more spritely against Elche.

The ninth-placed visitors impressed when Eder Sarabia, a former Barcelona assistant coach under Quique Setien, led them to the field.

Alejandro Balde fed Yamal in the area after nine minutes and Barca took the lead.

Inaki Pena, a teammate of his last season, was the winger who took a little self-sets before firing a clinical finish past the former Barca goalkeeper.

After Fermin Lopez broke into space down the left and delivered an inch-perfect cross, Torres doubled the hosts’ lead three minutes later.

A year after the deadly flooding that hit Spain’s east coast, the striker revealed a T-shirt honoring Valencia, his hometown.

As Barca wasted some valuable chances, Lopez and Rashford missed the mark with a penalty save from Pena.

Just before half-time, Mir scored a goal back. The forward was playing in his own half when Barcelona attempted to catch him offside. At the far post, Mir bent a shot past Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and Ronald Araujo.

Before the break, Torres might have scored again, but Pena made a superb save to prevent Torres’ strike.

As Elche battled well in the second half, Mir curled an effort to hit the top of the crossbar.

After Lopez sent him off with a cross, Rashford scored his second league goal of the campaign with a superb finish to seal Barca’s victory.

Szczesny, a veteran goalkeeper, saved Barca from losing their final match by pressing a Mir effort onto the post.

“Starting strong and passionate was very important. We could then proceed as we desired, Torres told DAZN.