FC Barcelona (3rd, 22pts) vs Elche CF (8th, 14pts)
Competition/Round: 2025-26 La Liga, Matchday 11
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Marc-André ter Stegen, Joan Garcia, Gavi, Pedri, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen (out), Pau Cubarsí (doubt)
Elche Outs & Doubts: None
Date/Time: Sunday, November 2, 2025, 6.30pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 5.30pm GMT (UK), 12.30pm ET, 9.30pm PT (USA), 11pm IST (India)
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Montjüic, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Miguel Sesma Espinosa
VAR: Pablo González Fuertes
How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), Premier Sports 1 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports Player (UK), FanCode (India), DAZN (Spain), others
Following a painful defeat to Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the season last week, Barcelona have had a full week to rest and prepare for their next game as the Blaugrana welcome newly-promoted Elche to the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Sunday evening.
Barça will be third in the table at kickoff, equal on points with fourth-place Atlético Madrid and eight points off the top, and need a win to try and stay as close as possible to their biggest rivals early in the title race. The season is long and there will be another chance to directly take points from Real Madrid, so the Catalans have to keep doing their job and hope the leaders drop unexpected points along the way until they meet again.
The injuries continue to plague Hansi Flick’s side as Pedri could miss the rest of 2025 with a hamstring injury and Raphinha will be out for a few more weeks, but Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo are back in the squad for this one and Joan Garcia will reclaim his spot in goal sooner rather than later. The squad will get healthier over the next month, so there’s a chance Barça can start to build some momentum after a depressing October.
November begins with a very interesting challenge in the form of the league’s surprise package in Elche, who started the season with a seven-game unbeaten streak and some impressive results at home and away. They’ve only picked up one point from their first three matches, but this is still a sensational start to the campaign for a team that is looking to avoid relegation without much drama.
Coached by former Barça assistant Eder Sarabia and with on-loan Barça goalkeeper Iñaki Peña in between the posts, Elche play a very entertaining brand of football. They rank third in average possession and passes per game behind only Barça and Madrid, are a big threat on set pieces, have a striker duo in André Silva and Rafa Mir with plenty of top-flight experience and deploy a dynamic 5-3-2 system that is not easy to attack or defend against.
They won’t go to Montjuïc to park the bus and be content with a point; this Elche team dares to try and compete with the big boys, and they know Barça are vulnerable and not nearly at their best. The Blaugrana must be prepared for a tough battle against a legitimately solid La Liga team, and must be clinical and dynamic up front to find spaces and goals against Elche’s back five.
This will be fun, and probably full of goals. Here’s hoping that Barça get the majority of them.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Eric, Balde; Casadó, De Jong; Yamal, Fermín, Rashford; Ferran
Elche (5-3-2): Peña; Núñez, Chust, Affengruber, Bigas, Valera; Febas, Aguado, Neto; Silva, Mir
PREDICTION
Elche like to play and press, and won’t be scared of a Barça side not at their best. This should be fun and open, and I believe the home team will find a way: 3-1 Barça.
