Real Sociedad spoils Barça’s league celebration
The San Sebastian team wins at the Camp Nou (1-2) with goals from Merino and Sorloth
MADRID, 20 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona lost this Saturday 1-2 against Real Sociedad on matchday 35 of LaLiga Santander, where visiting goals from Mikel Merino and Alexander Sorloth spoiled the celebration at the Spotify Camp Nou for the recent conquest of the league title, with poor image of the culés against a rival motivated by sealing their European place.
In addition, the people from San Sebastian put an end to a long losing streak in the blaugrana fiefdom. Until this day, they had not beaten Barça in their field for a LaLiga appointment since the 1-3 harvest on May 18, 1991; in fact, the ‘txuri-urdin’ team hadn’t even scored since April 9, 1995, thanks to a draw (1-1).
With a hangover from the rúa that the men’s and women’s teams experienced last Monday to celebrate their respective league wins, Barça paid dearly for their relaxation. The fights for the Pichichi Trophy, for the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, nor for the Zamora Trophy, for the German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, served little as an incentive.
Although both have quite tracked the two awards, for top scorer and least scored respectively, only ‘Lewy’ took the opportunity to open a gap with their competitors. And in general, the team coached by Xavi Hernández showed a taciturn version, without spark with the starters or with the replacement players in the second half.
The corridor that Real Sociedad made for their rival, before the start of the match, gave way to a particular balm of tranquility that the blaugranas gave the blue and whites. It was a kind of pact until Merino opened the ‘can’ in minute 5, after a serious mistake by the French center-back Jules Koundé.
Starting from behind, with Barça’s defensive line almost at the midfield line, Koundé lost the ball to Sorloth; He sprinted and planted himself in the area on the left side, quickly looked up and found his teammate on the opposite side. With a sharp left-footed shot, Merino made it 0-1 and softened the spirits of the stands.
Until reaching the break, there was little history in a duel where Real Sociedad was taking a cut. In his intention to secure the fourth position in LaLiga, which will earn him a ticket to play in the 2023/24 Champions League, that loot was already a success. And Take Kubo, who had started the game as a substitute, came close to extending his advantage.
However, that task was carried out by Sorloth with a counterattack on 72′. The action began with a steal by Martín Zubimendi on the edge of his own area, passing the ball to Kubo and accompanying him on the left side; The Japanese caught sight of him, passed the ball to Zubimendi and he assisted the Norwegian, who subtly beat Ter Stegen.
In this way, Zubimendi presented even more credentials to dazzle the fans of the Camp Nou, since it is rumored that he is one of the signings that the Barça board of directors will undertake this summer. Despite the achievement of this 2022/23 League, with delivery of the trophy included after the game, Xavi has work ahead of him.
To avoid complete embarrassment, but not defeat, ‘Lewy’ scored with a header after a great cross from Ferran Torres from the right wing. Thanks to this good harvest, the team from San Sebastián reached 65 points and came close to the third position provisionally occupied by Atlético de Madrid, in whose box it has 69 points.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: FC BARCELONA, 1 – REAL SOCIEDAD, 2 (0-1, at halftime).
–LINEUPS:
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Balde, Kound (Mr. Alonso, 46 mins), Christensen, Jordi Alba; Busquets (E. Garcia, min.84), De Jong, Kessie (Ansu Fati, min.63); Dembele (Tower, min.86), Raphinha (F. Torres, min.63) and Lewandowski.
REAL SOCIEDAD: Remiro; Elustondo, Zubeldia (Pacheco, min.81), Le Normand, Rico; Zubimendi, Illarramendi (Gorosabel, min.58), Merino; Cho (Kubo, min.58), Barrenetxea (Marín, min.73) and Sorloth (C. Fernández, min.81).
–GOALS:
0-1, min.5: Merino.
0-2, min.72: Sorloth.
1-2, min.90: Lewandowski.
–REFEREE: Alberola Rojas (C. Castellano-La Mancha). He yellow carded Lewandowski (min.53), Busquets (min.72), M. Alonso (min.79) and De Jong (min.85) at FC Barcelona; and Zubeldia (min.8), Illarramendi (min.37), Kubo (min.79) and C. Fernández (min.85) at Real Sociedad.
–STADIUM: Spotify Camp Nou, 88,049 viewers.