Match Review : Real Sociedad vs Barcelona (1-0)

Barca, Real Sociedad.

If Barca wins, they increase their lead atop La Liga, although Real Madrid would still have a game in hand. If they lost or drew, things would begin to get a little interesting.

Let’s see how Barca fared.

First half

The first half was uninspiring.

That isn’t a word we’ve used to describe Barca’s form this season, but that’s exactly how Barca looked in the opening 45 minutes. There wasn’t enough crispness, they weren’t all that sharp, and they certainly didn’t look raring to go at the raucous Anoeta.

There was some early fireworks though, notably Robert Lewandowski’s early goal…..that was eventually ruled offside. In the moment, it didn’t look offside at all, if anything it looked like the textbook example of staying onside.

But as we got another look via VAR…it still looked onside.

VAR released an image courtesy of semi automatic technology and the image still looked onside, as the VAR room looked to have blatantly mistook Lewandowski’s boot to be offside.

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m right. At the end of the day, the goal didn’t count and Barca had to simply go again. Going again led to a goal by Real Sociedad, courtesy of a bad bounce and a good finish by Sheraldo Becker.

Barca tried to recover from the goal before halftime, but they just couldn’t overcome their lack of sharpness.

They went into halftime down 0-1, but there was another half remaining and plenty of time for an equalizer. Let’s see how Barca fared in the second half.

Second half

The second half had a similar look to the first half

Barca again just lacked the sharpness they had shown previously, which made them suffer big time on the pitch.

They found more control even after the departure of Frenkie De jong, but they just couldn’t find the preciseness needed to threaten in front of goal. As a result, the second half went along pretty quickly without any sort of true pressure from Barca.

They tried to threaten during the final moments, but even their last ditch crosses lack any sort of lift or threat. All in all they just didn’t have it tonight, simple as that, and as a result they dropped their second match of the season.

Final word

Barca looked tired.

At least that’s what it looked like to me. They just didn’t have it, they lacked anything positive, it just wasn’t a good performance. They weren’t specifically terrible, they just didn’t provide a threat.

Credit to Sociedad for their performance, they locked down defensively and were great playing out of the back against Barca’s pressure. They got the result they deserved and Barca has to live with that.

Barca’s next match

A much needed international break is coming up, with Barca now scheduled to return to competition on November 23rd against Celta.

See you all then!

TreJean Watkins

I’ve been a big time Barca fan since I was 14 years old. I love the club, the history, and the tradition that the club has built over its prestigious history. Forca Barca!