Barcelona is currently the leader in LaLiga. The Catalans won, partly thanks to a well-playing Memphis Depay, easily from Elche: 3-0. Memphis scored and provided an assist, while Robert Lewandowski also added two more goals to his tally. As a result, Real Madrid has been sentenced to second place, although the Royal come back to the top with a win in the city derby against Atlético Madrid.
Frenkie de Jong and Memphis appeared at the starting signal at Barcelona on Saturday afternoon. The playmaker from Arkel formed a three-man midfield with Pedri and Franck Kessié in the competition match with Elche. In addition, Memphis was in the forefront, along with Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembélé. With that, Xavi was true to his word: the trainer said in the press conference the day before the match ‘that he will rotate this year’. De Jong and Memphis still had to sit on the bench in the Champions League match with Bayern Munich.
After fifteen minutes, the task for Barcelona, which could at least temporarily take over the lead from Real Madrid, was made a lot easier. Gonzalo Verdú prevented Lewandowski’s free passage after a fine pass by De Jong and the referee had no choice but to draw red. Barcelona knew then that from that moment on it would play with one man more in their own Spotify Camp Nou for about 75 minutes and a simple victory was in the offing. When Lewandowski was the end station of a nice attack in minute 34 and tapped in the 1-0 from close by, that scenario came even closer.
Before halftime, the margin was doubled and it was Memphis who was responsible. The the Dutch attack leader got the ball played by Balde and had a man in his back, but turned away nicely and then found the short corner with a pebble-hard shot: 2-0. Just after the break, Memphis was the declarant, albeit happily. The murder judge saw his ball, whether intended or not, end up at Lewandowski, who could simply slide the ball in for 3-0.
Depay with the 2-0! ??
Depay is marginally offside but luckily just on the right side, the recognizable turn followed by a nice finish ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #BarcaElche pic.twitter.com/4XSSOUPmF4— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 17, 2022
It was immediately his last achievement of the match, because Xavi decided after an hour to bring in Ansu Fati for the Dutch attacker. Ten minutes later, Lewandowski was also called off for Ferran Torres and Barcelona’s attacking level immediately dropped. The margin of three remained and that was all the fans of los Azulgrana could complain about, because given the difference in quality and the difference in the number of players on the field, Barcelona could and should have won more widely.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 16 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 15 |
| 3 | Real Betis | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| 4 | Osasuna | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 10 |
| 6 | Athletic Club | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| 7 | Atletico Madrid | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 8 | Real Majorca | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 8 |
| 9 | Girona | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 10 | Rayo Vallecano | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 11 | Celta de Vigo | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 7 |
| 12 | Real Sociedad | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 7 |
| 13 | Valencia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 14 | Almeria | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 4 |
| 15 | Espanyol | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 4 |
| 16 | Seville | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 4 |
| 17 | getafe | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -8 | 4 |
| 18 | Real Valladolid | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -8 | 4 |
| 19 | Cadiz | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -13 | 3 |
| 20 | Elche | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -14 | 1 |