Elche – Barcelona, ​​Getty Images 01 February 2026, 00:04

The situation remains tense in the standings of the Spanish La Liga, where Catalan Barcelona and Real Madrid traditionally compete for the championship title, and as of the beginning of the twenty-second round of the national championship, it is not too noticeable that anyone is significantly inferior in this eternal race.

Hans-Dieter Flick’s side played against the backdrop of a UEFA Champions League opener away to mid-table Elche this weekend, but are struggling to play open football. So whatever, there was no need to suffer while trying to break open the Blaugrana’s other side’s defense this late on a Saturday night. But Flick’s team still had another problem — who would score goals from the moments that the Catalans’ attacking link managed to create.

Because in fact, it turned out not to be a match, but a whole statistical anomaly, since the guests managed to create so many potential scoring opportunities in 90 minutes that some teams of La Liga did not dream of scoring on their own accounts even in three games! And it all started with Yamal’s quick ball from Olmo’s pass to the right wing of the penalty area already in the sixth minute, when Donald made a mistake in the center of the field.

At that time, it seemed that now is about to happen, and the defense of Elche will begin to crack at the seams. But then Olmo and Ferran combined their efforts to hit the crossbar three times, while Torres managed to do it with an interval of a fraction of a second, while Rafinha and Yamal lost their moments. And then the rivals also added!

Yes, Barcelona again conceded a goal while trying to raise the defensive line high, for which Valera punished it with a pass to Alvaro Rodríguez. It was not the only episode when the Elche attacker ran behind the defenders of the Catalans, but he also did not have everything in order in the final phase of the attacks. However, the disaster did not happen for the guests – in the 40th minute, de Jong drove the goalkeeper and the defense on the right flank of the penalty area, after which he rolled under the shot of Ferran, who probably really wanted to aim for the crossbar again, but nevertheless shot a little under it.

The fun football continued in the second half, as Elche tried until the last to catch the opponents on another quick attack, but finally gave up in the 72nd minute, when Yamal barely got the ball in the area on the right flank, then went into the penalty area and rolled a long-range cross for Rashford, who tried to prevent Affengruber from scoring, but the Englishman finished the episode. After that, it became a little easier for Flick’s team to breathe. Only the statisticians were looking to see if Barca had broken any record this evening in terms of danger created.

Elche will visit Basque side Real Sociedad in the next round, while Catalan side Barcelona host Balearic side Mallorca, following a cup trip to Albacete in midweek.

Elche — Barcelona 1:3
Goals: A. Rodriguez, 29 — Yamal, 6, Torres, 40, Rashford, 72

Elche: Peña – Donald, Chust, Affengruber (Petro, 74), Pedrosa – Diangana (Netu, 60), Mendoza, Aguado (Redondo, 55), Valera – A. Rodriguez (Cepeda, 74), A. Silva (Boyar, 60).

Barcelona: J. Garcia – Kunde (Araujo, 84), Kubarci, E. Garcia, Balde – Olmo (Bernal, 62), de Jong, Fermin (Casado, 85) – Yamal, Torres (Lewandowski, 62), Rafinha (Rashford, 46).

Warning: Donald, Mendoza — de Jong