Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace as FC Barcelona moved top of the LaLiga table with a 3-0 win over Elche on Saturday evening.
Xavi Hernandez made five changes from the defeat to Bayern Munich, as Eric Garcia, Keita Balde, Frenkie de Jong, Franck Kessie and Memphis Depay were all recalled.
The Catalans enjoyed most of the possession as expected, although clear-cut chances were hard to come by in the Elche final third.
Elche have not beaten Barcelona in their last 19 meetings and that didn't look like changing when they were reduce to ten on 16 minutes after Gonzalo Verdu was shown a straight red card for denying Robert Lewandowski a clear scoring chance.
Lewandowksi should have put the home side ahead in the 27th minute after getting on the end of Depay's cross, but the Polish striker was unable to steer his header on target.
The Polish striker was not to be denied as he opened the scoring seven minutes later to turn home a cross from Balde after Depay had missed the ball.
Depay did get his name on the scoresheet five minutes before the break as he collected a pass from Balde and turned brilliantly before firing past goalkeeper Edgar Badia.
Barcelona carried the momentum into the second half as Lewandowski grabbed his second and Barcelona's third with a close-range finish at the far post.
Xavi responded with a few changes after that as Ansu Fati, Hector Bellerin and Raphinha replaced Depay, Garcia and Ousmane Dembele for the final 30 minutes.
Barca should have had a fourth goal in the final 10 minutes as Ronaldo Araujo somehow missed the target from six yards out with an acrobatic effort.
Nevertheless, three goals were enough to get the job done on the day as the Catalan giants maintained their unbeaten start to the LaLiga season.
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