Despite going down a man at the end of the first half, Barcelona were able to see off Elche 3-0 behind a brace from Lionel Messi and 18-year-old debutante Munir El Haddadi’s first career La Liga goal.
Barcelona vs. Elche: Final score 3-0, Messi’s brace leads Blaugrana over Los Franjiverdes
Neither Javier Mascherano’s red card or a black cat invading the pitch could stop Barca from winning their season opener.
The opening 20 minutes at the Camp Nou were very quiet, with the exception of a furry little pitch invader who ran around for a couple minutes and momentarily delayed the match.
In the 22nd minute, El Haddadi controlled a pass from Andrés Iniesta, made a quick turn to elude his marker, and rattled the post with a left-footed rocket from outside the box. El Haddadi got the start due to Neymar's ankle injury after a strong preseason that saw him go from a Barcelona B player to earning his first ever start with the senior side.
Barcelona hit the woodwork again in the 33rd minute when Iniesta uncorked a rising shot that eluded the outstretched hand of Przemyslaw Tyton. Instead of giving the Blaugrana a lead, however, the ball hammered off the crossbar.
Just when it looked like the black cat might have jinxed Barcelona, Messi took it upon himself to score another wonderful goal to give his side a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute. Pressure on the ball led to an Elche turnover as Sergio Busquets picked off a pass and wasted no time finding Messi at the top of the box. The Argentine turned, dribbled towards goal, and beat Tyton with a low shot inside the far post.
Minutes later Javier Mascherano tripped up José Ángel as he raced in towards the Barca goal, earning himself a straight red card for preventing a goal scoring opportunity. The play left Barcelona down a man for the remainder of the match, but the foul was outside the box and Elche were unable to take advantage of the free kick.
Ten men? No problem for Barcelona as they doubled their lead less than two minutes into the second half.
Ivan Rakitic’s pass over the top was headed on by an Elche player, keeping Munir onside as he controlled the ball and moved into the box. The 18-year-old, learning from his near miss in the first half, calmly side-footed a shot past Tyton to make it 2-0 for Barca.
Nothing better than scoring a goal in your first game on your first shot on target!
Messi extended the lead to 3-0 in the 63rd minute because he’s amazing and basically unstoppable. Messi picked up the ball just inside the 18-yard box and proceeded to dance through and past multiple defenders before firing a shot past a frozen Tyton. You had to feel bad for the Elche goalkeeper as there was simply nothing he could do as he watched his defense get sliced apart like a hot knife through butter.
Barcelona: Bravo, Alves, Mascherano (red card 44’), Mathieu, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta (Roberto 78’), Rafinha (Bartra 46’), Messi, Munir (Pedro 67’)
Goals: Messi (42’, 63’), Munir (46’)
Elche: Tyton, Suárez, Lomban, Pelegrin, Albácar, Mosquera, Coro (Fajr 66’), Mendes, Ángel (Giménez 54’ (Adrián 81’)), Pasalic, Jonathas
Goals: None
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