Three familiar faces on Sunday at Montjuïc
FC Barcelona face Elche on Sunday, kick off 6.30pm CET, with the aim of putting behind them the defeat last weekend at the Santiago Bernabéu against Real Madrid in the Clásico. The visitors to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in week 11 of La Liga have amongst their ranks some familiar faces for Barça fans.
Iñaki Peña and Héctor Fort on loan
In between the posts for Elche we will find one Iñaki Peña, on loan this season from the blaugranes. After gradually settling in at his new club, the goalkeeper has established himself as first choice after a series of impressive performances. At the age of 26, Peña has made 45 appearances for the Barça first team, 23 of which came last season under Hansi Flick when the goalkeeper came into the side to over the absence of the injured Marc ter Stegen.
Another player on loan at Elche from Barça this season is Héctor Fort. The young full back is still finding his feet and has made just one appearance in the starting XI so far in 2025/26 with injury hampering his progress. Last season as a blaugrana Fort made 20 appearances for Hansi Flick's team mainly coming off the bench.
Eder Sarabia, the coach
The third former blaugrana we find in the shape of coach Eder Sarabia who was assistant coach to Quique Setién at Barça in 2020. Since arriving at Elche in the summer of 2024 after a spell in charge at FC Andorra, Sarabia led the club to automatic promotion from the Segunda División in 2024/25. Back in the first division the former Barça man led Elche to the best ever start to a season in the top flight going seven games unbeaten.
Under Sarabia Elche find themselves in eighth place in the table on 14 points with just two defeats in their opening 10 league games, and with the ex-Barça contingent present on Sunday the blaugranes will be in for a test in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.