Elche CF (12th, 24pts) vs FC Barcelona (1st, 52pts)*
*Standings at the time of writing
Competition/Round: 2025-26 La Liga, Matchday 22
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Gavi, Pedri, Andreas Christensen (out)
Elche Outs & Doubts: Aleix Febas, Héctor Fort (out), Rafa Mir, Álvaro Núñez, Josan (doubt)
Date/Time: Saturday, January 31, 2026, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Sunday)
Venue: Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, Elche, Spain
Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz
VAR: Valentín Pizarro Gómez
How to watch on TV: ESPN
Deportes (USA), Not Available (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), Disney Plus (UK), FanCode (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following a big comeback win over Copenhagen to secure a Top 8 finish in the Champions League league phase in midweek, Barcelona turn their attentions back to La Liga when the leaders travel to Alicante to face Elche at the Manuel Martínez Valero Stadium on Saturday Night Fútbol.
Barça come into this one on the back of a strong result in Europe that guaranteed a spot in the Round of 16 and allows the Catalans to fully focus on domestic matters for the next six weeks, with a very winnable stretch of games in league and Cup action that could put the Blaugrana in a strong position to defend their domestic treble.
But just because this is a winnable stretch, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be an easy one. Case in point, Saturday’s opponents: Elche have been undoubtedly the best story in La Liga this season, as the promoted side came back with a goal of not only staying in the division but playing great football in the process, and former Barça assistant Eder Sarabia is doing a truly great job that is starting to raise his profile as a possible candidate for bigger jobs if his team can finish comfortably in mid-table or maybe even challenge for Europe.
Elche like to play football, attack, score goals, press high, and they don’t resort to the usual annoying tactics that even teams with bigger budgets than them love to use to make La Liga games almost unwatchable at times. They rank third in possession and completed passes and sixth in goals scored, and their bold, attacking style manages to pick up enough points to offset a defense that has conceded the sixth most goals in the league.
Perhaps the best example of Elche’s attacking personality was their visit to Montjuïc last November in which they went toe-to-toe with Barça and were never discouraged despite conceding two early goals and eventually losing a very entertaining game at the Catalan capital.
Elche have won just one of their last six in the league, but they were competitive in every single match and deserved better in some of their recent losses. They will absolutely take the game to Barça and use the energy of a very good home crowd to create all kinds of trouble for a Blaugrana side that’s been way too vulnerable at the back in the last couple of weeks, and this one should be full of chances and goals.
Barça will be favorites and are in good enough form to survive a tough challenge and still pick up all three points to guarantee they’ll stay on top of the standings for another weekend, but this will not be easy and the Catalans must be prepared for a real battle. But a fun battle, with entertainment and actual good football. You don’t get a lot of that in La Liga, so treasure this one.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan; Kounde, Cubarsí, Eric, Balde; Bernal, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Ferran
Elche (3-5-2): Peña; Chust, Affengruber, Bigas; Valera, Diangana, Aguado, Neto, Pedrosa; Rodríguez, Silva
PREDICTION
Elche will try to attack from the start, and given the recent track record of Barça’s defense, will probably score an early opener, but I’m still betting on Flick’s troops to find a way and get a fun win on the road: 4-2 to the visitors.
