Goals from Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford helped coach Hansi Flick and his team regain their spirit after the defeat in El Clasico last weekend.
Despite completely controlling the game, Barcelona's defense still revealed many loopholes, creating conditions for Elche to continuously endanger. Rafa Mir scored an honorary goal for the away team and had two shots that hit the crossbar.
This was the sixth consecutive match in which Barcelona could not keep a clean sheet, in the context of a squad devastated by injuries.
Hansi Flick will not have the services of Pedri, Gavi and Joan Garcia, but welcomes the return of Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo - two important pillars in the attack.
Yamal has regained his form after a lackluster performance in El Clasico. The 18-year-old talent is also caught up in a scandal off the pitch, and the goal in this match will help him significantly relieve psychological pressure.
In the 9th minute, from Alejandro Balde's speedy border climb, Yamal received the ball in the penalty area, skillfully controlled it and then fired a cross-angle shot past goalkeeper Inaki Pena, opening the score for Barcelona.
Just 3 minutes later, the score was doubled. Fermin Lopez escaped down the left wing and crossed accurately for Ferran Torres to easily tap the ball into the net.
Before the end of the first half, Elche shortened the score thanks to Rafa Mir's goal. This striker broke the offside trap, passed Ronald Araujo and fired a tricky shot into the far corner, giving goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny no chance to block it.
Entering the second half, Elche continued to play resiliently. Rafa Mir once again caused Barcelona's goal to sway with a shot that hit the crossbar.
However, in the 67th minute, Rashford spoke up to seal a 3-1 victory for the home team with an accurate cross-angle shot after a pass from Fermin Lopez. This was also Rashford's second goal in La Liga this season.
This result helped Blaugrana reduce the gap with arch-rivals Real Madrid to 5 points, while Elche dropped to 9th place with 14 points.
