La Liga,
Round 2
Elche
ELC
Barcelona
BAR
-
Venue
- Estadio Martínez Valero
-
Referee
- Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez, Spain
Preview for Elche v Barcelona
Barcelona begin their La Liga title defence away to Elche on Sunday, with Hansi Flick’s side looking to start the new campaign with three points.
The Blaugrana have worked on several additions this summer, including the likes of Anthony Gordon and Rodri, in two big moves from the Premier League.
Elche will be hoping their strong home record can give them a platform to cause an upset, while Barcelona enter the contest as defending champions after collecting 94 points and scoring 95 goals last season.
Team News for Elche v Barcelona
Elche will be without Yago Santiago, Grady Diangana, Abiel Osorio and Adam Boayar, who are all dealing with injuries. There are no suspensions for the hosts.
Barcelona are also missing Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji, while there are doubts over the fitness of new signing Rodri.
Expected line-ups for Elche v Barcelona
Elche: Dituro; Chust, Affengruber, Redondo; Sangare, Villar, Aguado, Neto, Valera; Houary, Nino.
Barcelona: Garcia; Kounde, Eric Garcia, Martin, Balde; Bernal, Espart; Yamal, Lopez, Gordon; Raphinha.
Elche
Barcelona
Substitutions
- 43 Alejandro Iturbe
- 6 Pedro Bigas
- 26 Matia Barzić
- 21 Lucas Cepeda
- 16 Martim Neto
- 17 Josan
- 10 Facundo Buonanotte
- 19 Grady Diangana
- 47 Javi Morcillo
- 30 Alvaro Padilla
- 9 Ezequiel Ponce
- 36 Umaru Konare Tounkara
- Pedri 8
- Eder Aller 31
- Wojciech Szczęsny 13
- Jules Koundé 23
- João Cancelo 2
- Jordi Pesquer 33
- Álvaro Cortés 26
- Pau Cubarsí 5
- Brian Fariñas 28
- Dani Olmo 20
- Hamza Abdelkarim 29
- Anthony Gordon 17
Stats for Elche v Barcelona
- Barcelona have won all five of their last meetings with Elche.
- Barcelona have scored 13 goals and conceded just two across those five matches.
- The most recent meeting ended in a 3-1 Barcelona win at the Martinez Valero on January 31, 2026.
- Elche collected 35 of their 43 points at home last season. That home tally made Elche the sixth-best home side in La Liga in 2025-26.
- Barcelona scored 95 goals during their title-winning campaign last season.
Where to Watch Elche v Barcelona: TV and online streams
Elche host Barcelona on Sunday, August 23 and kick-off is scheduled for 20:30 BST. Fans can watch the match on Premier Sports and La Liga TV.
Prediction for Elche v Barcelona
Match Prediction
Elche
Barcelona
Barcelona should have enough quality to begin their title defence with a win, although Elche’s home record could make this more competitive than the gap in quality suggests.
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