Barcelona broke the resistance of their host Elche and continued their upturn in form in the Spanish La Liga, overturning a 0-1 deficit to secure a valuable and deserved 2-1 victory on Sunday in the 27th round of the competition, which also saw Cadiz winning 2-0 against Rayo Vallecano. Barcelona's points tally rose to 48, marking their third consecutive victory in the league and the fifth in their last six matches, temporarily placing them third until the remaining matches of the round are completed. Conversely, Elche's score was halted at 29 points, remaining in 14th place after suffering their twelfth loss of the season.
Elche initially took the lead with a surprising goal by Fidel Chaves in the 44th minute, but Barcelona surged in the second half thanks to the impactful substitutions made by coach Xavi Hernandez, with substitutes Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay scoring for the Catalan team in the 60th minute and from a penalty in the 84th minute, respectively. Elche finished the match with ten players following the red card issued to Javier Pastore in the 88th minute. This marked the eighth match in which Barcelona avoided defeat across all competitions, with their last loss dating back to January 20, when they were defeated 2-3 by Athletic Bilbao in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.
