Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has lauded forward Memphis Depay on the heels of his performance in the Catalan side’s 2-1 La Liga win against Elche.

As was the case in Barca’s 4-0 league win over Athletic Bilbao, Depay came off the bench and chipped in with a key second half goal. After Barca won a penalty attempt following a handball violation committed by Elche fullback Antonio Barragan, the Dutch international stepped up to the plate and scored with relative ease for what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the contest.

Overall, Depay finished the match with the penalty goal and one goal-scoring chance created in his 15 minutes of playing time.

Xavi comes away from Depay’s cameo in the contest pleased with the forward, which he touched on in his post-match press conference.

“He is a player who should be important,” Xavi said. “He is positive. He trains very well. He's the team's top scorer. He's very professional. We're dosing him because he's coming off an injury.”

Depay noted that when Barca ended up winning the penalty kick, he made it “clear” he aspired to take the attempt. More so, the Dutch international sees that there were plenty of chances that his side had to add to the scoreboard over the course of the fixture.

“I was clear about how I was going to take the penalty,” Depay said. “I like to take them like that.

“We should have taken the lead earlier and scored more goals, but we lacked effectiveness, but in the end we managed to win the game.”

After dealing with hamstring and muscle injuries this season, Depay has now picked up his form at just the right time in the campaign, which includes his notable combined two goals scored in his last two appearances off the bench in La Liga play.

In the big picture, Depay sits as Barcelona’s top scorer in La Liga with 10 goals in 18 matches played to go along with two assists recorded. Next up for Depay and Barca will be the opening leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie against Turkish side Galatasaray.