Barcelona remain unbeaten this season, have won their fourth consecutive league match and are back on top of the La Liga table thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Real Sociedad at the Montjuïc
Olympic Stadium on Sunday evening. The Blaugrana were put to the test by a well-organized and competitive Sociedad team and had to come from behind to secure the three points, but Lamine Yamal’s star cameo off the bench in his return from injury and Robert Lewandowski’s winning header were enough to clinch the victory and send the Catalans to first place in the standings.
FIRST HALF
The visitors had a very clear gameplan in the opening period: sit back in a very deep block with a tight and compact 4-5-1 shape, absorb pressure without breaking down their structure and try to win the ball back and get it to their quick and skilled forwards.
La Real’s plan worked early on as they limited the damage from Barça’s attack, with the Blaugrana dominating the ball but not creating meaningful chances except for a couple of shots from outside the box. Sociedad didn’t offer a real threat on the counter, but Mikel Oyarzabal had the best chance for either side in the first 20 minutes when he headed wide from a cross by Gonçalo Guedes.
Barça remained patient and looked for the gaps, and both Marcus Rashford and Roony Bargdhji offered good threat on the wings while Pedri and Frenkie de Jong pulled the strings in the middle. But the home team still struggled to find spaces inside the Sociedad defense, and they were largely frustrated in the first 30 minutes.
And to make things worse, Barça found themselves behind at the half-hour mark when Sociedad right-back Álvaro Odriozola ventured forward and found himself all alone inside the six-yard box to score a tap-in from an assist by Ander Barrenetxea, and La Real had a shock lead at the home of the champions.
Barça responded immediately to going behind and started to create real danger, and Sociedad goalkeeper Álex Remiro made some remarkable saves while Igor Zubeldia pulled off a miraculous goal line clearance to deny a certain goal by Pedri.
Sociedad were closer and closer to going into the break with a precious lead, but Barça finally made the breakthrough two minutes before halftime when a corner-kick by Rashford found Jules Kounde, who jumped higher than anyone and scored the equalizer with a powerful header.
The halftime whistle came to end a period dominated by Barça, who somehow fell behind and needed to fight hard to get back in the game and had 45 minutes to complete the comeback against a stubborn Sociedad team.
SECOND HALF
The start of the second period was similar to the majority of the first with Barça dominating possession but still unable to find spaces inside the Sociedad defense, and they needed some individual inspiration to find a second goal.
Dani Olmo had already come on at halftime trying to use his ability in tight spaces, but it was the introduction of the Ballon d’Or runner-up that changed the game: Lamine Yamal replaced Roony and needed just 60 seconds to make a huge impact with his first touch, taking on Sergio Gómez and finding Robert Lewandowski with a perfect cross as the Pole headed it home off the post and put Barça in front for the first time.
Yamal was his usual amazing self and the Catalans created major chances to score a third but Remiro made a few more brilliant saves, and Lamine came very close to scoring but had a goal disallowed for offside. Sociedad had a couple of dangerous counters themselves exploiting Barça’s high line, and the game was still wide open as we reached the final 15 minutes.
The end of the game was wild as both teams created big opportunities to score, with Take Kubo hitting the crossbar for the visitors and Lewandowski missing one of the easiest chances of his life on a counter-attack. Sociedad kept fighting until the very end, but the final whistle came to end their upset bid and give Barça all three points.
This was a hard-fought win but Barça deserved it based on the amount of chances they created, and if not for Remiro in the Sociedad goal they would have probably won by a lot more. La Real were desperate for a result and it showed in their performance, and they certainly made Barça work for it.
At the end of the day three points were all that mattered to take advantage of Real Madrid’s loss on Saturday, and the champions are back on top of the table where they belong.
PSG is up next, and Barça look ready for their biggest test so far.
Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Martín (Eric 78’); De Jong, Pedri (Casadó 90+5’); Roony (Yamal 58’), Dro (Olmo 46’), Rashford (Ferran 78’); Lewandowski
Goals: Kounde (43’), Lewandowski (59’)
Real Sociedad: Remiro; Odriozola (Gómez 57’), Zubeldia, Caleta-Car, Muñoz; Marín (Méndez 67’), Gorrotxategi, Turrientes (Soler 67’); Guedes (Kubo 57’), Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea (Sadiq 81’)
Goal: Odriozola (31’)
