3 winners and 1 loser from Barcelona’s 4-0 La Liga victory against Elche

Barcelona continue their march to the La Liga title thanks to a comfortable 4-0 victory away to bottom of the table Elche on Saturday night. Barça never needed to get out of second gear and dispatched the league’s worst team with three second-half goals, and are now 15 points clear at the top of the table.

Winners

Ansu Fati: The Prince badly needed a good performance and a goal in this one, and that’s exactly what he did. He wasn’t the best player on the pitch but he worked hard and scored a very good goal with a powerful, clinical finish. After his father’s comments earlier this week and what has undeniably been a very underwhelming season, Ansu needed to smile again. And he did. And that’s good news for him and Barça fans.

Eric García: The Spaniard replaced Sergio Busquets in the heart of midfield, and even though he got to play against a truly terrible Elche side, Eric didn’t look out of place or incompetent at all. He was solid, quick, decisive and precise with his passes and good with his anticipatory moves in the (very few) moments where he was asked to defend. He’ll need a lot more playing time in that position against better competition for us to truly judge whether he’s a long-term option, but he’s done enough to earn more minutes in the short-term and not just sit on the bench behind all the other center-backs.

Jules Kounde: One of Kounde’s strongest performances in the last couple of months, despite the golden chance he missed to score a goal in the first half. He was on point with his anticipations and created the third goal of the night with a lightning-quick steal in midfield, and he was comfortable on the ball under pressure. Jules looks more and more settled at right-back and could develop into a very good one if that’s indeed his position next season. All the tools are there.

Losers

Elche fans: Near the end of the game, the broadcast cut to the Elche supporters sitting in the stands watching their team again look horrible and lose another game, and I just felt sad for them. It really puts in perspective just how spoiled I am as a Barça fan, because relegation is something we’ll probably never go through and the “bad” things we get to complain about are nothing compared to what the fans of a team like Elche go through on a weekly basis. They are passionate and dedicated but they’re being treated to one of the worst sides La Liga has seen recently, and it must be very painful.