Following their 1-0 victory in midweek against fellow title challengers Atlético Madrid in their first leg of the quarter-final match at the Camp Nou for the Copa Del Rey, Barcelona travelled to Elche once again after their 4-0 result 9 days prior with a ''B'' side to qualify for that stage in the Copa Del Rey, but this time in a league match and with a strong Barcelona side.

The Blaugrana side completely dominated possession throughout the entire match. The first chance came for Luis Enrique's men in the 15th minute when the visitors won a free kick with Xavi who fed the ball to full-back Jordi Alba; only for the Spaniard to produce an amazing volley out of nowhere which dipped over Tyton's crossbar. Six minutes later, Lionel Messi was fouled on the edge of the area and his resulting set-piece swerved just wide of the far post.

Elche had many chances of their own, as Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had to be alert to deny two goal-bound eforts from creative midfielder Faycal Fajr, a one-on-one chance and a teasing free-kick effort, 20 yards out.

In the 35th minute, Barcelona finally took the lead. The hosts were not switched on quickly enough, and Xavi's quick free-kick found the run of centre-back Gerard Pique, who controlled the ball magnificently before shooting on the turn to bury his chance from close range. 

In the second-half, it was all Barcelona. 9 minutes into the half, Barcelona won a penalty-kick after Neymar ran into the box, weaved past his marker before being brought down by Pellegrín. The hosts could have no complaints; Messi finished the spot-kick with a neat placement, sending Tyton the wrong way.

Two minutes later, the hosts were then down to ten men following a sending off from arguably their most dangerous player on the night; Fajr was given a second yellow card after clipping the ankles of Rafinha and getting nowhere near the ball in the process. He was given his marching orders, and the complexity of the game changed completely after this.

In the 69th minute, Neymar made it 3-0 following a perfectly-weighted pass from Messi. The young Brazilian was able to slide his finish beyond the goalkeeper, and it was virtually game over. The same was repeated two minutes later following an even better lofted ball from Messi over the top of the defence, for Neymar to do exactly the same and convert from close range once more. 

2 minutes until the full-time whistle, the rout grew even larger as young centre-back Marc Bartra provided a direct pass into the feet of Messi, who weaved past his marker to score his second of the match with a curling effort into the bottom corner of the net.

Pedro got himself on the scoresheet with a tap-in from a few yards out, after being set through by Neymar near the byline. 

Barcelona got a thumping win under their belt, and now look forward to their match against Atlético in Madrid mid-week, to move themselves into the next round of the Copa del Rey, whilst Elche drop into 17th place and face Granada in their next fixture.

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About the author
Roberto Rojas
Writing about the beautiful game. Cohost of the @LowLimitFutbol Podcast.