Barcelona launched their La Liga title defence with a 5-0 demolition of Elche on Sunday, with captain Raphinha and Fermin Lopez each netting twice and summer arrival Karim Adeyemi scoring on his competitive debut for the club.
Raphinha opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 14th minute, sending the ball calmly into the right corner after being brought down by Elche defender Victor Chuost. Adeyemi, who joined from Borussia Dortmund during the summer transfer window, doubled the lead just before half-time. Amine Ghamal played a pass to Raphinha in midfield, who found Adeyemi with a precise ball from the left, the striker beating the offside trap to finish.
Any hopes Elche harboured of a second-half recovery were extinguished by substitute Anthony Gordon, who came on and made an immediate impact. The winger drove forward from the left and set up Raphinha’s second to make it 3-0 in the 67th minute, then four minutes later advanced from the centre of the pitch before feeding Fermin for a straightforward finish. Fermin completed the scoring in the 79th minute, shaking off his marker on the edge of the box and firing in a shot the goalkeeper could not handle.
The one concern from an otherwise comfortable afternoon for Barcelona was the sight of Gavi limping off before half-time with pain in his right knee. The club had not issued any official statement on the midfielder’s condition at the time of writing.
