Barcelona begin La Liga title defence with 5-0 victory over Elche

Spanish champions Barcelona opened their La Liga title defence in commanding fashion on Sunday, defeating Elche 5-0 at the Martínez Valero Stadium.

Raphinha and Fermin Lopez both scored twice, while Anthony Gordon provided two assists on his Barcelona debut. Karim Adeyemi also marked his first appearance for the Catalan giants with a goal.

The convincing victory came a day after Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid began their campaign with a dramatic 2-1 win over Espanyol, sending an early warning that Barcelona remain determined to retain their league crown.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick opted to leave several regular starters on the bench as players continued to regain full fitness following the World Cup.

Lamine Yamal, who played a key role in Spain’s World Cup triumph, started on the right wing but was unable to produce his best performance. Barcelona, however, had enough quality elsewhere to comfortably overcome their opponents.

“This is a difficult place to go and they’re a team that like to have the ball, but we did very well,” Raphinha told Movistar.

Raphinha started as Barcelona’s central striker following the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres and made an immediate impact.

The club are still searching for another striker after Atletico Madrid rejected their attempt to sign Julian Alvarez.

“I’ll leave that to the president,” Raphinha said when asked whether Barcelona needed to bring in another number nine. “I am comfortable (anywhere) on the pitch.”

Barcelona took the lead after 14 minutes when Victor Chust brought down Raphinha inside the penalty area. The Brazilian stepped up and confidently converted the resulting spot-kick.

Elche threatened at times, but Barcelona’s defence managed to deal with the danger, with Eric Garcia making several important interventions. Gavi also attracted attention in midfield, although his striking pink hairstyle was arguably more noticeable than his performance.

Adeyemi, operating from the left wing, initially struggled to find his rhythm but gradually grew into the match. He doubled Barcelona’s advantage before half-time after Raphinha unselfishly set him up.

Barcelona continued to dominate after the break, with substitute Gordon making an immediate impact. The former Newcastle United winger supplied Raphinha for his second goal before creating another opportunity for Lopez to score Barcelona’s fourth.

Youngster Xavi Espart then provided the assist for Lopez to complete his brace and round off an impressive opening-day victory.

Despite the five-goal margin, Flick’s high defensive line showed some of its familiar vulnerabilities, but goalkeeper Joan Garcia produced a solid display when called upon and ensured Barcelona finished the match with a clean sheet.

Elche defender Chust acknowledged the difficulty of facing the champions.

“We were playing against a great team and you pay for your errors,” he said.

“It was a tough day but I’ll take from it that the team didn’t stop running.”