Luis Enrique's Barcelona started the league campaign with an emphatic win over Elche in the first game of the season. Goals from Messi and Munir ensured all three points for Barcelona.  Elche were defending well in the initial minutes and we didn't have much space. Iniesta, Messi and Rakitic were showing few bursts of excellence in the midfield, but that was not enough to threaten Tyton. Midway through the first half, Munir came inches close to scoring,  smashing the middle of the crossbar. It was the first clear cut chance that Barca had created in the match.

 Elche were happy to concede the possession and were sitting very deep. We were trying out different ways to break the bus. Maximizing the space for Messi is one such way . So  Messi  was seeing the ball often and he didn't hesitate to dribble past opposition in this match. When things looked dire, he came deep to collect the ball, skipped past two, three players and gave a perfectly weighted pass to Munir, who let the opportunity slip by hesitating to take a shot on goal. The chances were created, but finishing wasn't so good. On the other side, Elche were trying to attack with occasional long balls, but Rakitic, Alba and Mathieu  were defending very well. Iniesta also had his shot denied by a crossbar towards the end of first half after beating two players from the left flank.

   Barça finally got the lead with 5 minutes to go in the first half. Sergio Busquets intercepted a sloppy pass by a diving header. The ball ended in Messi's feet, who scored home, the first goal of the match. Seconds later, Mascherano was shown straight red card for fouling a Elche player, rather clumsily(Clear goal scoring opportunity).  Luis Enrique reacted quickly by replacing Rafinha with Marc Bartra. It was roughly 4-3-2 or 4-4-1 on paper. Fans were contemplating about various permutations in the break.

Firstly, whether "1-1 with 11 men is good enough than 1-0 with ten men with 45 minutes to play?"
OR
"Should we play safely(tiki-naccio)"? etc..

 The fans were still trying out various formations, but the team went into the second half to play exactly the way they did in the first half. For players, 10 or 11 players didn't matter. The players were attacking with intent. Rakitic, who had a brilliant first half got an assist to his name when he passed the ball  swiftly  over Elche defenders(Rather unusual play) to Munir for second goal of the match. Munir, the 18 year old, flipped the ball into the net early in the second half.

   However it was Messi who stole the show and talk of the town was "Messi tracked back". Yes, he showed the hunger and desire which was lacking last season. In this match, Messi  often collected the ball deep and dribbled the ball past 3,4 players.He also ran continuosly in order to recover the ball rather than waiting for his teammates to provide him the final pass. As I told in my earlier posts, Barcelona play well when Messi plays well(Remember PSG match). The players look up for Messi for the extra drive which is needed sometimes, to win match/silverwares.  The other players feel, "Messi is working like dog to help his team despite being possible GOAT, why not step up my game"?. That's what happened yesterday. Here's what Bartra had to say about Lionel Messi.

,Bartra: "Messi is our leader. If you see him working so much for the team, you're even more motivated."

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 The team kept knocking for the third goal and it finally arrived when Messi showed his unique ability to score goals in tight situations. All in all, it was reminiscent of  Messi's(2011) performance. Barcelona started the season with all 3 points with a comprehensive win. Mathieu, Alba and Rakitic were other top performers. Early to say, but if team stays hungry and plays like this week in, week out. We will surely win a silverware at the end of the season.
Visca Barca