FC Barcelona and Elche measure their strength in the eighteenth round of LaLiga Santander, in the stadium Camp Nou. The team trained by Xavi Hernandez seeks to return to the path of victory in La Liga Santander, after chaining three consecutive games without winning.
After beating the RCD Espanyol (1-0) in the Catalan derby and at Villarreal in The Ceramic Stadium (1-3), respectively, the Catalan team lost at home to Real Betis (0-1), before him Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League (3-0) and drew against him CA Health at the El Sadar stadium (2-2). That is why he needs to become strong again at home and for this he must defeat a Elche struggling to get away from relegation positions.
The Barça sum 24 points under his belt and occupies the eighth square of the classification, although he has a game less played than the Vallecano Ray, sixth with 27 and that the Valencia, seventh with 25 points. The objective is to enter European positions as soon as possible in the Barcelona entity.
The Barcelona as a local he thrashed for 4-2 to Real society on the first day, but nevertheless he could not give continuity to the good feelings shown in the Camp Nou. Has beaten Getafe (2-1), Levante (3-0) and RCD Espanyol (1-0), but could not get past the tie against Granada and Alavés (1-1), in addition to losing to him Real Madrid in “El Clásico” by 1-2 and before him Real Betis (0-1). That is why the Barça he needs to win to close the gap with respect to the European positions.
The team of Xavi Hernandez has very important casualties. Martin Braithwaite is long-lasting low, as well as Pedri relapsed from his injury, as did Ansu Fati which is low due to a muscle injury, as well as Jordi Alba, which will not return until 2022. In addition, the protagonist of the week in Barça key has been a Kun Agüero who has announced his withdrawal for heart problems. A) Yes, Xavi Hernandez is giving many opportunities to young players like Gavi, Nico González, Ez Abde, Ferrán Jutglà and Riqui Puig, among others.
The Barça part as a clear favorite before him Elche, who will not hesitate to give the ball to the Catalans to try to do damage in the counterattack. Lucas Pérez y Lucas Boyé are the attackers of the Elche team, which occupies the sixteenth square of the classification with 15 points.
It is tied with the Alaves, seventeenth, and both teams have two points of margin with respect to the Cádiz, which in eighteenth place marks the relegation positions with 13 points. The Elche comes from losing the Valencian derby in Mestalla before him Valencia (2-1), where Lucas Boyé made the goal of the team from Elche.
During the week, the Elche faced the Unionists of Salamanca in the second round of the Copa del Rey. The team trained by Francisco Rodriguez, who has taken the place on the bench of Fran Escribá, gave minutes to the less usual players and suffered to achieve a victory by 0-1 with an own goal for the Salamancans in injury time.
When do you play Barcelona – Elche?
The game is played Today, Saturday, December 18, at 6.30 p.m.
Where to see Barcelona – Elche?
The encounter can be seen by Movistar LaLiga (46) and Movistar LaLiga 1 (47), platform channels Movistar Plus. You can follow all the information live on the Mundo Deportivo website.