Match Review : Real Sociedad vs FC Barcelona (1-4) -

Barca returned to action today, this time away from home and in the Anoeta against Real Sociedad. This was Barca’s first match since the season opening disappointment against Rayo Vallecano, so an improved showing was definitely on the cards for the Catalan giants.

How did the action unfold? Let’s find out.

First half

The first half started off very well for Barcelona, as the Blaugrana made their mark on the game in rapid fashion.

Literally.

Just under a minute into the match, Barca found the game’s opening goal. After Pedri brilliantly worked Barca out of trouble in their own half by himself, he found Alejandro Balde racing down the left flank.

Balde used his pace to his advantage, pushing the ball forward until he was in Sociedad’s final third. He then slipped a left footed pass to Robert Lewandowski, who didn’t need to control the pass. Instead, he shot it with his left foot first time, and calmly passed it into the back of the net.

LEWANDOWSKI FIRST GOAL FOR BARCELONA! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/0vHkqc8WYz

— ESPN (@espn) August 21, 2022

After last week’s disappointing result, this was the start Barca needed. Not only to go up early, but to get Lewandowski in a rhythm early so he’d be more involved throughout the game.

The joy was short lived though, as Sociedad threatened and converted just five minutes later.

Soceidad draws level

After Frenkie De Jong lost possession in Barca’s half, Sociedad when on the attack. Takefusa Kubo found the ball and lofted a deflected pass that found Alexander Isak. Isak then controlled the pass, before lofting a deflected shot over the head of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen into the back of the net.

ISAK CHIPS TER STEGEN 😱 pic.twitter.com/QDEU5RUH0v

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2022

Sociedad had drawn the score level, and Barca’s troubles without Sergio Busquets were put on full display not even 10 minutes into the match.

Once Sociedad’s leveling goal came to be, the game entered a bit of a dangerous phase for Barca. They couldn’t effectively play out of their own half. The midfield was struggling to advance the play and put Barca in good spots on the attack. When Barca ultimately found their way through the midfield, their play in the final third lacked quality.

The only thing that kept Barca from getting blitzed in the first half was the play of Ter Stegen. Who made some incredible saves to keep Barca alive. He made a rather fine save towards the end of the first half, which was probably his best of the entire match.

Ter Stegen saves Barca

Sociedad was on the edge of Barca’s touchline, where they worked past Barca’s defense and found some more space. A pass was laid off to David Silva, who had a pretty clear look at goal. Silva then sent a shot towards the net, which was inch perfect with just the right amount of pace. But Ter Stegen quickly dropped down to his side, and made a fantastic left handed save to prevent the shot from going in.

Sensational save by Ter Stegen 🧤 pic.twitter.com/TuCoYl6qXA

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2022

In all honesty, it was a game changing moment. If that shot went in, Barca goes down 2-1 and all the pressure would be on their shoulders in an environment that was already tough enough to play in. But with the shot being saved, the score remained level, and Barca could cruise to halftime unscathed.

And that’s what happened, as Barca survived Sociedad’s first half blitz — and a staggering amount of tactical issues — to get to halftime level on the score sheet.

If Barca wanted to reverse their current predicament, they’d have to come out firing on all cylinders in the second half. That included some touch ups defensively, and some much needed change in the attack. And as we all saw, that’s exactly what went down.

Second half

The second half was a bit of a blur through the first 15 minutes. Barca had tightened up defensively, but their attacking play still lacked the quality necessary to find the next breakthrough they were looking for. They almost found it in the 55th minute, as Gavi stole the ball in a dangerous area and was met with a great scoring opportunity.

But Gavi fumbled his down shot after looking off multiple passing options in the penalty area.

The game truly changed in the 63rd minute though, as Barca made a few super subs to change their luck. Ferran Torres — who played a pretty disappointing game — was taken off in favor of Ansu Fati, and Alejandro Balde — who had his moments, but had some head scratchers as well — was taken off in favor of summer signing Raphinha.

Both incoming forwards were tasked with one job. Provide some quality to this struggling Barca attack, and that they did.

Super subs make a difference

Because in the 63rd minute — just two minutes after coming on — Fati delivered the match’s third breakthrough. Raphinha found himself in the midfield looking for options, before he settled on Fati, who was playing as a central forward.

Fati then took a touch, and gave a beautiful back heel pass to Ousmane Dembele, who was making a bit of a run on the left flank. Dembele then controlled the pass, took an additional touch, and fired a powerful left footed effort into the back of the net.

ANSU FATI WITH THE BEAUTIFUL ASSIST FOR DEMBELE 😲 pic.twitter.com/VD5hrgcous

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2022

Barca had run themselves right back in front, and they did so in delicate style.

Now all Barca had to do was hold on to their lead and escape the Anoeta with a scrappy win and a much needed three points.

But instead, Barca decided to add more goals. Which worked wonders in terms of securing extra security on the score sheet.

Barca erases all doubt

Barca’s own blitz of sorts started in the 68th minute, when Lewandowski secured his own birthday brace. After Pedri controlled the ball at the top of Sciedad’s penalty area, he fired a pass into the box where Ansu Fati was waiting.

Fati then sat in the box, let the pass deflect off his foot, and into the shooting pocket of Lewandowski. The former Bayern star then placed a precision perfect shot into the bottom right corner and into the back of the net.

Back-to-back beautiful assists from Fati 🎯

Lewy with the double! pic.twitter.com/1CIFSFfg7Q

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2022

It was 3-1 Barca.

After their woeful first half, Barca had stormed to open up their lead and put the game beyond Sociedad’s reach. This was the response everyone was looking for after the struggles of the previous 65 minutes unfolded. Because normally, these type of matches wouldn’t end with much excitement on Barca’s side. As they’ve shown a concerning trend of failing to take control of matches until the the very last possible moment.

And that’s if they manage to do so.

But today, that wasn’t a problem. Which is an encouraging trend, and one that should yield a lot of excitement for the future.

Barca decided to add one more goal in the 79th minute. With Lewandowski and Fati both having major parts in the construction of the extra rewards Barca earned.

Lewandowski fired a fantastic, yet awkward looking back heel/back foot pass towards Fati, who somehow kept himself in an onside position. All that was left for Fati was a delectable finish, and he didn’t disappoint. As he calmly slotted it home to make the score 4-1.

Ansu Fati with a goal and two assists off the bench 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3qWUmEijGm

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2022

It was the cherry on top of a frustrating, yet exciting match for Barca. The trials and tribulations, the frustrating moments, they all seemed worth it in the moment for Barca en route to their first win of the season.

Barca’s first three points of the season are now in the bag, and boy did Barca need them.

Final word

Barca needed this match more than anything.

With Real Madrid winning their first two matches of the season, today’s match stood as Barca’s first big test to keep pace with their Spanish rivals. Usually that isn’t the case, but you can never take chances with an in form Real Madrid, so it was good to see Barca pull out the win.

Moving forward, Barca needs to figure out their tactical set up. It looked like Xavi wanted to experiment with a 3-4-3. But since there was no good build up in the midfield, it just didn’t work in the first half. Luckily it worked in the second half with subs. But on any other day, Barca could’ve easily failed to discover better form and take away some points. So that’s something to watch over the next couple of weeks.

One last note, Xavi has to pin down his personnel on the field. Frenkie De Jong played as a lone pivot in place of the suspended Busquets. But it didn’t work out at all, which worries me about their midfield if Busquets is ever unavailable again. Right back remained a concern as well, as Ronald Araujo again looked out of place and uncomfortable there.

Juan Foyth remains an option as a reinforcement. However, it remains to be seen if Barca will fork over the cash for the Villareal right back. Until that happens, right back will remain a big time concern.

Aside from that, there isn’t much else to mention.