Player ratings as Lewandowski cements Blaugrana to the top of La Liga

Barcelona pulled off a 3-0 home win at home to Elche on Saturday afternoon, heading to the top of La Liga against the side that backed the table.

The Catalans recovered their Champions League frustrations against Bayern Munich with an easy victory over opponents who conspired to make the afternoon as clear as possible for their hosts.

Elche arrived at the Camp Nou – a stadium they never won – with one La Liga Point and game plan. Visitors sat in a negative low block, working on nearly every restart from the start, wanting to keep the seconds away.

However, captain Gonzalo Verdo received a red card in the 14th minute for a rugby foul Robert Lewandowski to turf that was not part of Elche’s pre-match script.

Down to ten within a quarter of an hour, the timid 5-3-1 Elche didn’t even close the space between the lines. Pedri can receive the ball on the edge of the penalty area and calmly pull it to Alejandro Baldi on the left at his spare time. The academy producer fired a pass through the area that missed Memphis Depay but Lewandowski Assembled after 33 minutes.

Depay was undoubtedly the target of Baldy’s pass after just five minutes. Accepting the ball into the penalty area with his back to goal and Jon Nwankwo breathing down his neck, Depay moved away from the defender in an attempt to make sure of the cologne, and fired a shot as fierce as his spinning into the roof of the net.

On the cusp of the first half, Francisco of Elche joined his captain in the changing rooms. Pedri was disallowed Barcelona’s third goal for offside, but the visiting manager was punished for reacting with strokes before the VAR intervened.

The first two goals combined as Barcelona resumed scoring within three minutes of the start of the second half. Depay bothered himself in the six-yard area, forcing Lewandowski to clear the ball, and swept into second and third for Barcelona.

With such a healthy advantage and little sign that Elche offers a great deal of stumbling towards goal – the visitors didn’t attempt a single shot until the 90th minute – Barcelona slowed the game to a crawl, upping the tempo when the mood got so bad. they.

Lewandowski was uncharacteristically extravagant return He joined Bayern Munich in the middle of the week but shrugged off any spider strands as he took his tally to 11 in eight matches – even if he squandered several chances to pick up his first La Liga hat-trick on Saturday.

With Pedri pulling the strings and Ravenha pumping more urgency on the right, Elche was fortunate to have only been hacked three times.

Goalkeeper: Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6/10 – With so little on duty in the first half, it was somewhat surprising that he bothered to go out after the break. Does not need.

Right-back: Jules Conde – 6/10 – He sprinted forward sporadically to present himself as a snare, creating space for Ousmane Dembele more than anything else.

Central Defence: Ronald Araujo – 7/10 – He found the match so easy that he had the awareness to jump on the sidelines Barcelona badge after another proactive intervention – prompting shouts of ‘Uruguay’ for his respect.

Central Defence: Eric Garcia – 6/10 – Quickly to wipe out Elche’s sporadic counterattack attempts while the moves were in their infancy.

Left-back: Alejandro Balde – 8/10 – The reserve man holding the display on the left, Baldy made his second and third La Liga assists in his career.

cm: Frank Casey – 5/10 – Eager to break into the discount chest but often clumsy when he arrives. His performance was deemed disappointing enough to see him substituted at halftime.

cm: Frenkie de Young – 6/10 – Almost all Barcelona The attack passed through the Dutchman, collected the ball from the center of his defense and interrogated it from there.

cm: Pedri – 8/10 – Hitting the ball carelessly around the field, Pedri seemed to know exactly where and when to play the pass to find a teammate in space.

Right winger: Ousmane Dembele – 7/10 – He quickly proved that he could outdo Elche left-back Carlos Clerc. It was his cross that pushed the third goal.

Attacker: Robert Lewandowski – 8/10 – He is keen to engage in reinforcements without compromising his constant presence in the six-yard area when the ball makes its way into the danger zone.

LW: Memphis Depay – 8/10 – Expertly used his strength, he thrived in the face of Elche’s extremely narrow approach he used to remind Xavi of his threat (at least against the underside of the division).

SUB: Gavi (46′ for Kessie) – 6/10 – He blasted across the field with his usual infectious zeal and offered more composure at the sharp end of the field than Casey.

SUB: Ansu Fati (59 minutes for Depay) – 5/10

SUB: Hector Bellerin (60 minutes for Garcia) – 5/10

Sub: Ravenha (60 minutes for Dembele) – 6/10 – His arrival in Dembele’s place did not prevent Barcelona from directing the majority of their attacks to the right.

SUB: Ferran Torres (72 minutes for Lewandowski) – N / A

Manager: Xavi Hernandez – 6/10 – He constantly directs his players to deliver instructions during each stop. However, the hapless visitors did most of his work for him.

Man of the Match – Robert Lewandowski