Barcelona’s front line looked considerably different on Sunday than it did last season, with both Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres having departed the club over the summer and no replacement number nine yet signed. Raphinha filled the gap instead, and the Brazilian made the improvisation look effortless, scoring twice as Barcelona demolished Elche 5-0 in their La Liga opener at the Martinez Valero.
A day earlier, Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid had needed a late winner just to beat Espanyol 2-1, and Barcelona’s response left little doubt that the Catalans intend to defend their title without hesitation. Fermin Lopez also scored twice, while new signing Anthony Gordon set up two goals on his debut and Karim Adeyemi found the net in his own first appearance for the club.
Hansi Flick opted to rest several regular starters as the squad continues working back to full sharpness following the World Cup. Teenage winger Lamine Yamal, fresh off Spain’s title triumph, started on the right but wasn’t at his sharpest, a detail that mattered little given how comfortably the rest of the team performed around him.
Raphinha set the tone early, converting a penalty in the 14th minute after being fouled in the box by Victor Chust. Reflecting afterward on the difficulty of the fixture, he credited the team’s overall execution. “This is a difficult place to go and they’re a team that like to have the ball, but we did very well,” he told Movistar. Asked whether Barcelona still needed to sign a recognized striker, following their rejected bid for Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez, he deferred the decision upward. “I’ll leave that to the president,” he said, adding that he felt comfortable playing anywhere on the pitch.
Adeyemi, deployed on the left, took time to settle but grew into the match and doubled Barcelona’s lead before halftime, finishing off a selfless assist from Raphinha. At the back, Eric Garcia dealt capably with Elche’s occasional threats, while Gavi drew attention in midfield, more for a pink haircut celebrating Spain’s World Cup win than for any standout moment in play.
Gordon’s introduction after the break added another gear entirely. The former Newcastle winger set up Raphinha’s second goal before also assisting Lopez for Barcelona’s fourth, turning a substitute cameo into one of the match’s defining contributions. Lopez, who missed Spain’s World Cup victory through injury and endured a difficult summer as a result, added his second soon after, set up by young winger Xavi Espart, to complete the scoring.
Flick’s high defensive line showed occasional signs of vulnerability, though goalkeeper Joan Garcia was rarely seriously tested and preserved the clean sheet regardless. For Elche, defender Chust summed up the difficulty of the afternoon plainly. “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.”
