By Sachit Subba • Football • Aug 24, 2026 03:14 AM • 21 views
Barcelona immediately reminded LaLiga who was still in control by thrashing Elche 5-0 away on Sunday, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez each scoring twice as they maintained a relentless performance.
In the 14th minute, the captain took the initiative. When Elche defender Victor Chust brought Raphinha down inside the box, Raphinha took the penalty and placed it just inside the right corner of the goal. That was cool, with no unnecessary fuss, just business as usual.
Barcelona's press continued to squeeze Elche, and it paid off just before the interval. Karim Adeyemi, the new player who had joined from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, scored his first goal for the club at the perfect moment. After the visitors regained the ball in midfield, Lamine Yamal passed to Raphinha, who slipped it into the gap behind Elche's defence. Adeyemi timed his run to beat the offside trap, broke through on the left, and finished with great composure. His debut goal came in first-half stoppage time to make it 2-0.
Elche had probably hoped the break would give them time to reorganise, but Anthony Gordon made sure that wasn't the case. In the 67th minute, the substitute attacked down the left and played a perfectly placed cross that Raphinha knocked home for his second goal of the night and Barcelona's third in total. Four minutes later, Gordon was involved again, running the length of the field from inside his own half, reaching a long ball and feeding it to Fermin Lopez, who easily put it into an empty net.
Fermin wasn't finished. In the 79th minute, he collected the ball on the edge of the box, spun away from his defender, and struck a shot the goalkeeper couldn't reach. The score was now 5-0, and the game was effectively over.
The only negative development occurred just before the interval when Gavi left the pitch holding his right knee. Barcelona have not yet issued an official statement on the severity of the injury. Until they do, this is the only thing casting a shadow over what has otherwise been a nearly perfect start to the campaign.
With five goals and four different scorers, including the players who provided assists, the match also served as a statement result to begin the defence of their back-to-back titles. Barcelona will accept it, and they'll hope Gavi's medical report brings better news than his departure did.
