Barcelona was 3-0 too strong for Elche on Wednesday evening in LaLiga. A welcome victory for the Catalans and trainer Ronald Koeman, who saw his team fail last week against Paris Saint-Germain (1-4 loss) and Cádiz (1-1). Barcelona, however, had difficulty with the low flyer, who eventually scored three goals after the break. “The first half was very poor. We lacked rhythm and we did not create any opportunities ”, the Dutchman acknowledged afterwards. “The second half was better; the pace and depth of the team improved. ”
Koeman opted in the break to remove Miralem Pjanic from the team and to bring in Ousmane Dembélé. The Bosnian international is working on a difficult first season at Barcelona and therefore regularly receives criticism from the newspapers in Spain. Koeman was and is not always satisfied with the level of the midfielder, but he wanted to make one thing clear. “He has to provide more pace on the ball and he has to position himself better”, the trainer answered when he got a question about the substitution. “But sometimes it seems as if a football player is to blame if you pull him to the side and that is not the case.”
Leoooo Messiiii ?? The Argentinian child prodigy breaks the spell for Barça against Elche ???? Messi sets up the attack himself and finishes it after a nice heel from Braithwaite ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #BarcaElche pic.twitter.com/YUxLgXyiRW
– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 24, 2021
“The other players have not provided more pace either. I used Ousmane to get more depth, to put Lionel Messi on ten and to broaden the game. And the result was positive. ” During the match, Messi asked for more intensity from his teammates. The moment escaped Koeman, but he liked it. “It is only good that the captain sees what is going wrong and that he wants to do everything he can to change the situation. It’s impressive how efficient Messi is. ”
“But there are more experienced players in the selection who have to make the difference. Messi did that today (Wednesday, ed.) And he has shown how important he is to Barcelona. We needed this win after last weekend’s draw. We played a very good second half. The opening goal just after the break gave us more confidence ”, Koeman acknowledged.
After the victory, Barcelona is five points behind Atlético Madrid, which, however, has played a duel less. Koeman’s team will play in and against Sevilla on Saturday, which has two points and one game less than the Catalans. Next Wednesday, the teams will face each other again. Julen Lopetegui’s team then defends a 2-0 lead from the first semifinal of the Copa del Rey.