Barcelona – Real Sociedad: An Anticlimactic Celebration (1-2)
Barcelona’s festive atmosphere was slightly dampened as top-four defenders clinched their first win at Camp Nou in 32 years. This was also Barcelona’s first loss on home soil this season. Immanol prepared his side very well for this match, with a well-designed gameplan to earn a deserved victory.
Tactical analysis and match report from Huu Trung.
Champagne had been popped last week at RCDE stadium, where Barça’s title became a mathematical certainty. The bus parade had already been done, as well as the celebration dinner. Nonetheless, they still had four games to play and with the pressure well and truly off, they would look to enjoy every minute and try to push for as strong a finish as possible.
This one versus Sociedad would be a huge one, as it was their first home fixture since being confirmed 2022-23 LaLiga champions. Of course they would look to get the job done before lifting the cup in front of the home crowd.
But even though Real Sociedad did give their opponents a guard of honor before kick-off out of respect, they were definitely not there just to applaud the host. They were chasing their first top-four finish since 2012-13, and after being held to a 2-2 draw by Girona at home last time out, the Basque outfit would come into this match at Camp Nou determined to get a result. Otherwise, they would be left in an extremely vulnerable place, provided that Villareal had defeated Girona to cut the gap with them the previous day. They came into this match on the back of an impressive run of three victories and just two draws.
After . . .
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