Barcelona successfully returned to winning ways after painstakingly conquering his guests at Camp Nou, Real Sociedad. Lionel Messi becomes the differentiator through his penalty kick.
It is known, Quique Setien’s boys have had poor results in the last two matches. In addition to being bent by his eternal rival, Real Madrid, 2-0 in the El Classico match last week, the Blaugrana also only drew against Napoli in the Champions League.
While Sociedad was in the heat by winning the last six matches in all competitions, including Mirandes who secured a seat in the Copa del Rey final.
In this match, Setien played three strikers. The new player they hijacked from Leganes, Martin Braithwaite, was installed as player number 9, flanked by Messi and Griezmann.
On the other hand, Sociedad relies on a young Norwegian loaner from Madrid, Martin Odegaard.
In this match, Sociedad was able to compensate for ball possession with 46 percent compared to Barcelona’s 54 percent. In the case of a goal kick, Barcelona is 7 ahead of 1.
As usual, Cules started the game with a short pass from foot to foot and then headed for Messi. The 10th minute, the 2019 best player of the world sent a pass to Braithwaite which was completed with a flat kick that Remiro could still thwart.
Four minutes later, Messi-Braithwaite’s one-two touch was again thwarted by Remiro because the ball headed in his arms. The 17th minute, the Danish player broke into Sociedad’s goal after receiving feedback from Jordi Alba. However, he first said off the side.
Sociedad is not without resistance. Imanol Alguacil’s care boy dared to display an offensive game at home to Barcelona, especially, through the actions of Odegaard and Portu. However, Pique, Lenglet, and Ter Stegen were still able to conquer their efforts.
Messi again threatened in the 30th minute after winning the ball from Gorosbe on the left side. He then sent the ball to the middle. Sergio Busquets then returns the ball to the Argentine who runs in front of the goal with a parcel feed.
He welcomed him with a first time kick that bounced off the ground that was not too tight. Reflex Remiro’s left arm still hit it on the goal.
Until the first half ended, there were no more significant opportunities from the two teams. Griezmann did not do much in the first round, which then continued in the next round.
At the beginning of the second half, Barcelona and Sociedad did not have many dangerous opportunities.
Sociedad had threatened through a counterattack when Barrenetxea on the left wing made a cut inside move and fired with his right foot. However, the ball only drove towards the stands.
Messi had made the Camp Nou public stand up from his chair when welcoming a header from Griezmann in front of goal. He quickly grabs the ball. However, the header bounced over the bar.
Rakitic’s turn tried to conquer Remiro. He got a wild ball from Messi’s kick which was blocked in his running track. However, Remiro is still resilient to dispel that effort.
Oyarzabal tried his luck with a long-range shot on 74 minutes. The ball just bounced over Ter Stegen’s head.
In the 75th minute, a golden opportunity was born for Sociedad when the Blaugrana lost the ball in the middle. Odegaard sent a breakthrough for Isak on the left hand side. Ter Stegen closed the room. Isak’s left leg kick goes wide of the target.
Luck for Barcelona was present in the 81st minute. At that time the ball hit Le Normand’s hand who wanted to dispel Arturo Vidal’s cross. VAR saw that his arm position was unnatural. Referee Juan Martinez Munuera also gave a penalty. Oyarzabal was awarded a yellow card when protesting.
Messi executes a penalty. His left foot sent the ball into the right corner of the goal without being able to reach by Remiro. 1-0 for Barcelona.
No more dangerous opportunities for both teams until the end of the round. These results make Cules return to the top of the table.
