So The Determinants Of Barca's Victory, Koeman Praised De Jong And Puig

Riqui Puig after scoring against Elche's goal (Twitter @FCbarcelona_es)

JAKARTA - Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman said he was satisfied with the contribution of goals from his midfielders who secured the Catalan team's 2-0 victory over Elche in the Spanish League continued at the Martinez Valero Stadium, Elx, Spain, Sunday.

Both Barcelona's winning goals in the match were scored by Frenkie de Jong and Riqui Puig in the absence of superstar Lionel Messi, who is still serving a ban.

Oficial primary goals para @RiquiPuig con el primer equipo. Llega @Miralem_Pjanic y ... 🤗 pic.twitter.com/DnC0ss4olN

- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 24, 2021

De Jong scored the first and delivered a cross which assisted Barcelona's second, which was scored through a header from young talent Puig.

"The second goal came thanks to the contribution of two midfielders and that's what we demanded of them, daring to penetrate the opponent's defense and help the front line," Koeman said after the match.

"Recently Frenkie has improved the quality and effectiveness of his performances, while Puig performed very well despite only getting a little time on the pitch. Puig is not a tall player, but jumped well to score the second goal," he added.

"Having three attackers on the field is not always enough, we need a midfielder to help attack and also score goals, so it's really good that Frenkie can hit the opponent's goal and provide assists," he added.

❝Hemos tenido paciencia.❞‒ @RonaldKoeman analiza la victoria en el # ElcheBarça pic.twitter.com/J5CeZvLdPc

- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 24, 2021

The contribution of the two midfielders is clearly needed by Barcelona, whose 11 goals have been scored by Messi this season followed by Antoine Griezmann as the second most fertile player with five goals.

The result became Barcelona's four consecutive wins in the Spanish League, which made them again secure third place in the standings with a collection of 37 points, displacing Sevilla (36) who only occupied that position for only 24 hours.

❝Estoy feliz con el gol, pero sobretodo por la victoria.❞‒ @ DeJongFrenkie21 tras marcar en el # ElcheBarça. pic.twitter.com/P2imUGQMtS

- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 24, 2021

Koeman also praised the fighting strength of his players given that some of them only three days ago had to play 120 minutes in the Copa del Rey last 32 tie against Cornella.

"I am very happy with the way we won the match, because in the last few days the team played many times but was able to maintain a level of concentration and perform better than the opponent," he concluded.

📍 ¡Final del Partido! ¡Y victoria! 0⃣ Elche2⃣ Barça (De Jong y Riqui Puig) 🔴🔵 # ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/7XyEAxnpcp

- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 24, 2021

Barcelona will next play their Copa del Rey last 16 clash at second-tier Rayo Vallecano's headquarters on Wednesday, January 27 before hosting Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou four days later.