Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona beat Elche to move within five points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
The Argentina forward found the bottom corner to open the scoring from Martin Braithwaite’s backheel after the break.
The 33-year-old then doubled the lead 20 minutes later, finishing smartly after a wonderful solo run and pass from Dutchman Frenkie de Jong.
Jordi Alba wrapped up the win at the Camp Nou shortly after when he converted from Braithwaite’s header.
Messi’s double takes him top of the La Liga scoring chart with 18 goals, two more than Luis Suarez.
Barcelona are third in the table behind Atletico and Real Madrid, albeit having played a game more than the leaders.
Sevilla can also move back above them if they win their game in hand.
Line-ups
Barcelona
Formation 4-3-3
- 1ter Stegen
- 28Mingueza
- 3PiquéSubstituted forLengletat 76′minutes
- 23Umtiti
- 18AlbaSubstituted forDestat 76′minutes
- 21de Jong
- 8PjanicSubstituted forDembéléat 45′minutes
- 16González
- 17Machado TrincãoSubstituted forBusquetsat 67′minutes
- 10Messi
- 9BraithwaiteSubstituted forGriezmannat 76′minutes
Substitutes
- 2Dest
- 5Busquets
- 7Griezmann
- 11Dembélé
- 12Puig
- 13Murara Neto
- 15Lenglet
- 19Fernandes Siqueira
- 24Firpo
- 26Peña
- 29De la Fuente
Elche
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 13Badia
- 19Barragán
- 5Verdú
- 24Sánchez Guillén
- 23Garrido CifuentesSubstituted forChaves de la Torreat 60′minutes
- 14Gutiérrez Parejo
- 6MfuluSubstituted forSánchez Benítezat 81′minutes
- 25Mojica
- 10MillaSubstituted forMartinez Modestoat 72′minutes
- 22RigoniSubstituted forMorente Olivaat 60′minutes
- 9BoyéSubstituted forCarrilloat 72′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Gazzaniga
- 7Martinez Modesto
- 11Morente Oliva
- 12Calvo Sanromán
- 15Sánchez Benítez
- 16Chaves de la Torre
- 18Palacios Zapata
- 21Carrillo
- 26Donald
- 32Barri
- 37Carmona Álamo
- 45Andreu
- Referee:
- Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Barcelona 3, Elche 0.
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Second Half ends, Barcelona 3, Elche 0.
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Attempt blocked. Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Antoine Griezmann with a cross.
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Attempt missed. Guido Carrillo (Elche) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Tete Morente with a cross.
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Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Antonio Barragán.
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Pedri (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Raúl Guti (Elche).
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Foul by Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona).
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Guido Carrillo (Elche) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Attempt missed. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Ousmane Dembélé.
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Offside, Barcelona. Pedri tries a through ball, but Sergiño Dest is caught offside.
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Substitution, Elche. Luismi replaces Omenuke Mfulu.
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Foul by Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona).
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Guido Carrillo (Elche) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Substitution, Barcelona. Clément Lenglet replaces Gerard Piqué.
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Substitution, Barcelona. Sergiño Dest replaces Jordi Alba.
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Substitution, Barcelona. Antoine Griezmann replaces Martin Braithwaite.
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Attempt missed. Guido Carrillo (Elche) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Johan Mojica with a cross.
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Goal! Barcelona 3, Elche 0. Jordi Alba (Barcelona) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Martin Braithwaite with a headed pass.
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Substitution, Elche. Nino replaces Pere Milla.
