After claims of the club being in "crisis", Barcelona went on to enjoy one of their most convincing performances under Luis Enrique, crushing Atletico Madrid 3-1 at the Camp Nou. Admittedly, the champions were having a bit of an "off night" with uncharacteristic sloppy defending and lacking their usual intensity, they suffered one of their worst performances under Diego Simeone.
Luis Enrique will be hopeful his side can continue this excellent run of form, with the Catalan giants winning both of their games since the 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad at Anoeta, arguably the cause of the supposed "crisis". But Lucho will be primarily aiming for stability. After using a different starting eleven for all 27 games so far this season, he appears to have finally struck the perfect balance and should ideally aim to replicate it in the coming games.
The starting eleven that he has discovered features a midfield three of Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic, with the frightful attacking trident of Neymar, Suarez and Messi just ahead. Due to the emphatic 5-0 scoreline in which Lucho's side won last week, he has opted to rest a number of key first-team players. Claudio Bravo, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta have all been rested; along with Neymar, Suarez and Messi.
Stepping up to the first team are Adama, Halilovic, Munir, Ié, Diagné and Gumbau, all from the Barcelona B side. Enrique sees this as a good opportunity to give these youngsters some vital game-time to further their development. Thanks to the 5-0 victory in the first leg, all six starlets will be able to play with freedom and without pressure, something which Lucho is hoping will boost their performance.
It comes as a controversial decision to rest Messi. His performance against Atletico was full of purpose and the superstar seemed inspired once again, despite reports of him being unhappy with Luis Enrique being the manager of the club. In response to those reports, Lucho came out and said: "We just want to be united, to be as one, and for the fans to be behind us."
For Elche, the fixture is seen as a meaningless game, with the tie effectively being over since half-time in the first leg. However the players will be hoping to salvage some pride against and will be hoping to capitalise on the inexperienced Barcelona squad.
Team news:
Barcelona Squad: Ter Stegen, Masip, Montoya, Douglas, Piqué, Diagné, Bartra, Mathieu, Adriano, Ié, Halilović, Rakitic, Rafinha, Sergi Roberto, Gumbau, Pedro, Adama, Munir.