Barcelona Bounce Back from ‘El Clásico’ Setback with 3-1 Win Over Elche

Barcelona bounced back from their “El Clásico” defeat to rivals Real Madrid (1-2) with a convincing 3-1 victory over Elche in Match week 11 of La Liga.

With this win, the defending champions moved up to 25 points, sitting second in the table — five points behind league leaders Real Madrid.

The Catalan side opened the scoring early after a poor Elche pass was intercepted by left-back Alejandro Balde, who slipped a through ball to Lamine Yamal inside the box. The teenager showed great composure to find the net after a brilliant solo effort (9’).

Just two minutes later, Adrià Pedrosa’s slip allowed Fermín López to pounce, surge forward, and deliver a perfect low cross for Ferran Torres, who tapped home from close range to make it 2-0.

Against the run of play, Rafa Mir pulled one back for Elche before halftime with a precise low strike into the far corner past Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny (42’).

Barça sealed the points midway through the second half when Marcus Rashford unleashed a thunderous shot that crashed off the crossbar and into the net (61’). Mir came close to a second for Elche later on, but his fierce effort rattled the post (68’).

The match also marked the return of Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo, both featuring as second-half substitutes after recovering from injury.

Other Results

Real Betis cruised to a 3-0 win over Real Mallorca, thanks to goals from Brazilian forward Antony (10’, 34’) and Moroccan winger Abde Ezzalzouli (37’). Betis climbed to fifth on 19 points, while Mallorca stayed 17th with just nine points.

Deportivo Alavés ended Espanyol’s three-match winning streak across all competitions with a 2-1 home victory. Denis Suárez (5’) and Argentine striker Lucas Boyé (40’) — who was later sent off in stoppage time (90+1’) — scored for Alavés, while Roberto Fernández netted for Espanyol (56’). 

Espanyol remained sixth with 18 points, four behind Atlético Madrid in fourth and one behind Betis, while Alavés rose to eighth on 15 points, entering the race for European qualification.

Celta Vigo capitalized on Levante’s numerical disadvantage to claim a 2-1 win. Óscar Mingueza (40’) and Miguel Román (90+1’) were on target for Celta, while Honduran Kerwin Arriaga (66’) scored for Levante, who had midfielder Unai Vencedor sent off in the 29th minute.

Celta moved up to 12th with 13 points, while Levante slipped into the relegation zone in 17th place with nine points — level on goal difference with 18th-placed Valencia.

The round concludes tonight with Real Oviedo hosting Osasuna.