Ter Stegen, Torres and Memphis react after Elche 1-2 Barcelona

Barcelona came back from a goal behind to defeat Elche 2-1 away from home in La Liga on Sunday afternoon.

After having created plenty of chances in the first half, the Catalans failed to put them away, allowing their hosts to poach a lead on the stroke of half-time through Fidel Chaves.

However, Barça rallied back after the half-time break with substitute Ferran Torres equalising at the hour mark before Memphis Depay completed the turnaround from the penalty spot to hand his team a vital win.

The victory means that Xavi Hernandez & co. moved up to third place on the table, although that could be temporary with Real Betis set to play Atletico Madrid later tonight.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who had a good outing, spoke of the victory after the match, saying: “A very hard-fought match. I’m very happy with the victory. They have had one or two chances to win the match, but I try to be focused for when those balls arrive. The key was our intensity.”

Opening up on the manager’s half-time talks as the team were behind at the time, the German said: “Xavi told us that we had to enter the second half with more intensity. We dominated the match in the second half and won three crucial points.”

Elche had a couple of potential penalty shouts denied in the second half, which sparked a bit of controversy. Giving his thoughts on the matter, ter Stegen said: “I haven’t seen the replay, but I think Alba and later Busquets had their arms close to their body. The referee decided and decided it well.”

Ferran Torres made a discernible impact after coming on at half-time and capped off his display with a goal. And he backed the team to continue getting better under Xavi, saying:

“With Xavi, we are seeing a difference in the style. The way we play, the good results will come. We didn’t lose patience and we had the ball. We ended up playing what we wanted.”

Talking about his own contributions, the Spaniard added: “I’m here to give everything for Barcelona.”

Memphis Depay, who proved to be the match-winner for the Catalans, also spoke about the team’s performance on the day, saying: “We played well and created chances, and at the end, we were able to win. We are in good shape.”

However, he did say that they could have gotten over the line more comfortably, adding: “We could have played more comfortably.”

Talking about his penalty, the Dutchman added: “I was clear about how I was going to take the penalty. I like to take them like that.”

Source: BarçaTV+