no! No sooner had Barça got back to business after celebrating than Pedri had the ball in the net. Floodgates and all that. But then, after a quick VAR review, it was spotted that the young star had strayed. It remains 2-0... for the time being. GOAL!! Memphis doubles the lead What a brilliant roll of his man and blistering strike into the roof of the net. Making the most of his start.
His low cross was met for a simple tap in by the big Pole. Who else?! We're back underway and Barça resume their position around the Elche area. A couple of switches ends with a clumsy Balde cross. Reset and go again... A stoppage in play here as Chetauya gets some attention. He's gone down in his own penalty area after a collision with Dembéle. Some suggestions that the Barça man may have caught him with a stray elbow. Another big save from the 30-year-old keeper, De Jong getting decent power and direction towards the bottom right corner. They're knocking at the door...
If today's challenge wasn't hard enough that red card has suggested it's almost an impossible ask. Dembélé on his own shows just how unstoppable he can sometimes be, leaving defenders in his wake as he turns on the afterburners. His cross is, after two attempts, frantically cleared. A goal is coming.
Again the Pole is all alone and steps onto it with purpose, striking sweetly only for Badia to block away again. De Jong goes over the top from midfield as he sees the fresh legs of Bellerin scampering outside him down the right. The former Arsenal man is just inches from getting some expensive leather onto the ball to control it. A triple change for Xavi as Memphis, Dembélé and Garcia are all yanked off, replaced by Bellerín, Raphinha and Ansu Fati A great time to come on in a game that is already won and against 10 men. Possession is pushing 80%! As Elche make a couple of substitutes (you can check out the details in the 'line-ups' section above) the game already feels like it could start to peter out.
The crowd want more goals, of course, but the fire of the contest has been extinguished. Will Barça push for a barrel-load? Lewandowski gets his brace GOAL!!! Lewandowski makes it three There's not enough cover in the penalty area and as defenders are drawn to clear one threat, the Polish striker holds his position centrally. A quick pull back to him and he slides the ball into the corner. This could be any score now. As Barça begin their second half siege, their visitors get a chance to break forward.
com's TomConn:I am confident that we will score, but we all know that a draw would be an excellent result. If we are mathematically safe this week, it’d be great. I think, overall, Elche deserves it, everyone says we deserve to survive and we hope we achieve that. [... ]The quality of their players surprises you but we know their style by now. They will grow their game when given the ball, with a lot of players between the lines and attack with the ball. We aren’t likely to win the possession battle but we will fight back and we will focus on the set pieces which will be an important factor because that’s their weak point.
Watching the replay, the defender tries his best to make it look like he just fell on the striker, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Again building through the middle, Dembélé links up with Lewandowski on the edge of the Elche area, the Frenchman hoping for a one-two but his strike partner getting it very wrong. The blaugrana continue to look for openings as the play remains a fixture of just one half of the pitch. It's clear that although the wings are being targeted, when possible, the little dink passes over the last line of defence are also a clear tactic for this game. Nothing doing as yet, with Elche's structure and workrate winning many of the battles.
We're looking at a further three minutes here. Pedri just loves a little lift assist, doesn't he? His ability to spot and execute passes is reminiscent of his current manager. The pace has dropped at the Camp Nou, as players accept a result that has not been in question since just after the half-hour mark. Some of the fringe players still have a point to make and the last few minutes could see them create another opening or two. Araujo, surely!! No! The defender is all alone in front of goal as the ball drops down off a deflected shot.
The free-kick is central and Depay tries to lift it over the defensive line for Lewandowski to run onto. It's just overhit and bounces into the arms of Badia. RED CARD! Elche down to 10 Gonzalo Verdu is off as Alejandro Ruiz is having none of his excuses after pulling down Lewandowski who was clean through.
As we learned in Week 36, however, every single match needs to play, including this tie against Elche. Via WhoScored. com, the hosts will be missing several players on Sunday, as Alvaro and Edu Albacar will certainly be left out of the starting XI with injuries and Tono and Alberto Botia are suspended. David Ramos/Getty ImagesManu Del Moral and Juventus-loanee Richmond Boakye are doubtful, but the latter is expected to return to health in time for kick-off. In his pre-match presser, Elche manager and former Atletico assistant Fran Escriba displayed a lot of confidence in his team, even stating he felt like his team could win, but a draw would be an excellent result as well. Via InsideSpanishFootball.
Elche vs Getafe Predictions & Tips - Relegation battle in La Liga Elche vs Getafe predictions, preview, HTH & betting tips for the La Liga match. Watch free football live
Elche don't pose much of a scoring threat, particularly without Boakye, so even if Carles Puyol and Marc Bartra aren't good to go, Barcelona shouldn't take any chances with Pique. Breaking down the hosts' solid organisation on the back-end will be a far bigger challenge for the Blaugrana, but as we saw in the teams' first matchup of the season, Elche struggle against incisive passing, something Barcelona does better than arguably any other team in the world. In truth, this match should be a good preparation for next week's match against Atletico, who are a bigger and better version of Elche on the defensive side and will challenge Barcelona in every other facet of play. Elche will give Barcelona a chance to rest some key defenders, while the rest of the team take care of business against the Franjiverdes. There's no such thing as formalities in football, as we saw last week, but of all three title contenders, Barcelona now have the clearest path to the title.
(Reuters) Barça on decent league runAs Sid reminds us, Xavi's disappointing opening day draw has been followed by an aggregate in five games of 18-1. Full-timeGoals: Lewandowski (34', 48'), Memphis (41') Peep, peep, peeeeep! That's it. Barça stroll to victory over 10-man Elche and go top of LaLiga Santander for a few hours, at least. Nice run from Bellerin, who's been lively since coming on, but the ball breaks kindly for Elche and it's safe. That could be the last of the action.
More and more pressure building on that Elche goal. Pedri and Memphis combine to allow the latter, with a slick roll of his close marker, to pull the trigger. It's going in but Badia blocks well with his legs. Dembélé back involved and cuts inside after collecting short from a corner on the right. He targets the near posts but drags it a little wide.
Some observers suggest Kessie got away with that, and it should have been a red. Pretty sure Mr Roncero has no reason to shout 'conspiracy' though. Early yellow for Kessie and Boye is needing some medical treatment. Those two facts may be related. Dembélé has been a real handful for opposition defences this season - remember this is after months of speculation that he'd be leaving under a dark cloud - and he's the first to show a spark in this game. Picking up the ball in his usual wide berth, the Frenchman jinks passed a couple of defenders before firing in a tempting cross. Not this time. The hosts are clearly going to have the majority of the ball but have already shown their willingness, unlike previous versions of the team, to go long.
Real and Atletico will have an eye on the upcoming UEFA Champions League final and could choose to rest several starters in league play. Carlo Ancelotti already confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo will not play in Real's match against Celta Vigo, via Marca:"He isn't playing tomorrow because he isn't 100% fit. I prefer not to take any risks with him, or with Pepe, Varane, Carvajal or di María, who aren't playing tomorrow either. It was a joint decision. I spoke with the doctor and we made it together. "Barcelona hold the advantage over Atletico in goal differential, so if both teams win their Week 37 matches, the showdown in the final week of competition will decide who becomes La Liga champions.
Watch Elche CF vs. Getafe CF Online: Live Stream, Start Time Watch Elche CF vs. Getafe Online. Match Day: Monday, October 31, 2022; Match Time: 4:00 PM ET; Stadium: Estadio Martínez Valero; Live