Match Review : Barça vs Real Sociedad (4-0)

As a result of Real Madrid’s loss to Betis on Saturday, Barca had an opportunity to take another step forward towards winning La Liga.

If they won against Real Sociedad, they’d jump ahead of Atletico Madrid to go top of the table and go 3 points ahead of Real Madrid. Simple right? Well, not so much, considering just how disciplined Real Sociedad has been under manager Imanol Alguacil.

However, with so many of Sociedad’s normal contributors missing in action — Takefusa Kubo and Alvaro Odrizola just to name a few — getting a comfortable win felt more possible.

So let’s see how Barca fared in this early matchup.

First half

The first half wasa bit awkward, at least initially.

Out the gate, Sociedad pressured Barca immensely, forcing them into careless passes on the break and losing possession. Sociedad then set up shop and began to guide the game by way of possession.

This went on for a good 10-15 minutes as well, which left me wondering if Barca were going to find their way into the game or sit back and have another off day. However, we received that answer a few minutes later, courtesy of a red card for Sociedad.

Dani Olmo was played through, but he was taken down. With Aritz Elustondo being the culprit and him being the last man, it was an easy red and an easy sending off.

This left Sociedad down a man and with that, Barca took control and went to work. Just 8 minutes later, their work paid off, as it was Gerard Martin who scored the game’s opening goal.

The action started with Lamine Yamal, who sifted his way past two defenders before finding Olmo. Olmo then sought out the far post run of Martin, who then struck a pretty good ball across the other far post and into the back of the net.

(No video because of reasons beyond our control)

Just some beautiful football all around.

Just 4 minutes later, Barca had found their second courtesy of a deflection from Marc Casado.

It was 2-0 inside of 30 minutes and Barca looked to be rolling.

And rolling they did, going into halftime with a 2-0 lead and firm control on the game so far.

All they had to do now was coast the rest of the way and avoid the crucial mistake…or they could score more goals and give the crowd a proper show.

Second half

The second half was more of the same. Barca remained firmly in control and as a result, they found a way to add to the goal tally.

Twice in fact.

The third goal on the game came from Ronald Araujo, who headed home a rebounded shot to give Barca some extra cushion. It was 3-0 and Barca could’ve just sat back and coasted their way towards the end, giving them 3 points and a big morale boost heading into their midweek Champions League clash with Benfica.

But that’d be boring, wouldn’t it? Barca agreed and eventually they found another goal, this time courtesy of Robert Lewandowski. His goal was kind of cool though, as he deflected a booming Ronald Araujo shot before the shot even got to the keeper.

Here in America, we see those a lot in hockey, but it’s a bit more difficult to do in football. Nonetheless, it was an impressive goal from Lewandowski to give Barca a 4-0 lead and a guaranteed win.

Barca then finally coasted towards the end, at least not without some more attempts. But in the end, it ended 4-0, giving Barca 3 points and a nice Sunday afternoon/evening created due to a big win.

Final word

Nothing much to say.

Business as usual, great win and effort from everyone involved, onwards to the Champions League round of sixteen.

Barca’s next match

Barca’s next match will be on Wednesday as they take on Benfica in the Champions League. It’ll be the first leg of a two leg affair between Barca and the Portuguese club.

See you all then!