Barcelona moved back to within five points of LaLiga leaders Real Madrid after a 3-1 victory over Elche, extending their winning run against the Franjiverdes to nine consecutive matches.

The game began at a frantic pace, with both sides trading possession in the opening minutes. The breakthrough arrived in the eighth minute when Elche’s David Affengruber lost the ball to Alejandro Balde, who quickly set up Lamine Yamal to fire home a fierce left-footed strike.

Just four minutes later, a slip from Adrià Pedrosa gifted Fermín López the chance to surge forward and square for Ferran Torres, who doubled Barcelona’s lead. The goal maintained Barça’s remarkable streak of scoring multiple times in each of their last 11 meetings with Elche.

To their credit, Elche continued to push forward despite facing a dominant opponent hunting a sixth win in seven home games this season. However, their ambition merely opened up more space for Barcelona, who continued to create chances through Marcus Rashford and Fermín, while a desperate Pedrosa block denied the former another goal.

Elche found a lifeline just before halftime when Rafa Mir beat the offside trap and curled a superb finish past Wojciech Szczęsny, reducing the deficit to 2-1. Moments later, Iñaki Peña produced an outstanding save to keep out Torres, ensuring Elche stayed within reach at the break.

Barcelona resumed control immediately after halftime. Rashford squandered an early chance and then saw a goal ruled out for offside in the buildup. Elche nearly punished that wastefulness when Mir once again went close, clipping the crossbar with a curling effort reminiscent of his first goal.

Eventually, Barcelona restored their two-goal cushion as Rashford finally got on the scoresheet, smashing in off the woodwork from a tight angle to make it 3-1.

Mir continued to battle alone up front, striking the frame of the goal yet again and later testing Szczęsny with a low drive, but his efforts went unrewarded. The defeat leaves Elche winless in four league games (D1, L3), while Barcelona’s unbeaten run against the Costa Blanca side stretches to 22 matches