Lineup thoughts

• No Griezmann, no Dembele in the starting lineup for Barcelona
• I'm thinking Barca has enough creativity already on the field and you want someone like Braithwaite to take advantage of this; we'll see how this goes

First half thoughts

• 5' - Elche misses a big chance...
• 14' - Both teams playing on Elche's side of the field with Alba and Mingueza high up on the wings; Elche almost had a counterattack with Umtiti and Pique practically exposed but they did not capitalize...no way Barca does this against a better team
• 19' - Silky, smooth dribbling from Trincao near the 6-yard box but an even better save from the keeper; Elche taking it to Barcelona with these counterattacks but can't complete that last pass
• 39' - Trincao dispossessed against three Elche players but wins the ball back; chance is there for the taking but Elche is not capitlizing
• 40' - Again, another bad pass from Elche that kills off an attack
• Quiet game from Pedri and Messi so far
• 43' - Another counterattack from Elche that finally leads to a shot on target but it's straight at ter Stegen
• beIN Spanish broadcast showed us a graphic that most of Barcelona's attacks have come on the right flank via Mingueza and Trincao

Second half thoughts

• Messi takes the lead in the Pichichi race; insane considering his slow start this season
• 69' - Messi makes it 2-0 but De Jong did all the hard work; game over
• 73' - Messi with the half-assist to Braithwaite who heads it to Alba who makes it 3-0
• beIN Spanish commentators commenting how different Barcelona looks in the second half

A tale of two halves. Elche really should've done better in the first half with the plethora of counterattacks that they had. FC Barcelona was forgiving in the first half but in the second half they were not.