It’s Matchday 13 in La Liga and defending champions Barcelona face a tricky trip to Real Sociedad on Sunday, looking to keep pace with league leaders Real Madrid
Barcelona travel to their bogey La Liga ground, the Anoeta Stadium, on Sunday determined to overturn an extraordinary winless run away at Real Sociedad. The Blaugrana have lost four on the bounce at Anoeta, and are winless in San Sebastian since 2007. The four-game losing streak is their worst away run against a club since Deportivo La Coruna in 2002 (six).
Eusebio Sacristan’s side come into this match on the back of a four-match winning run in the league that has seen them climb to fifth in the La Liga table. Their most recent result was an impressive 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon as Xabi Prieto, David Zurutuza and Inigo Martinez scored to round off the win for La Real.
Barcelona visit Real Sociedad after sealing top spot in Group C in the UEFA Champions League, as Lionel Messi netted a brace to help Luis Enrique’s side to a 2-0 win over Celtic at Parkhead.
The defending La Liga champions are on a five game unbeaten run in the league themselves, but come into the match at Anoeta post a frustrating goalless draw against 9-man Malaga at Camp Nou, as the Boquerones defended resolutely to deny their hosts.
Probable Lineups and Tactics
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad have been in a scintillating run of form since the start of October, winning five of their six games and only losing narrowly at Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao. This run has seen them reach the periphery of the Top 4, level on points with fourth placed Villarreal separated by an inferior goal difference of +8.
Manager Eusebio Sacristan only has three players missing for Barcelona’s visit to San Sebastian on Sunday, with midfielders Markel Bergara (ankle), Jon Gaztanaga and Ruben Pardo (both muscle) sidelined with their respective injuries.
La Real are on their best run since Sacristan took charge at the start of the 2015-16 season. The most impressive aspect of their recent run is the nature of their wins, defeating each of their opponents by a margin of two goals or more. A win over Barcelona will see them come within one point of the defending champions.
For the match on Sunday, Sacristan should continue with the 4-3-3 formation that has worked so remarkably of late. Carlos Martinez and Yuri Berchiche will line up on either side of Inigo Martinez and Raul Navas, with Asier Illarramendi sitting in front of them.
Zurutuza and Xabi Prieto will look to run all over the park tirelessly and support the attacking trio of Mikel Oyarzabal, Willian Jose and Carlos Vela.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Rulli; Carlos Martinez, Navas, Inigo Martinez, Yuri; Prieto, Illarramendi, Zurutaza; Vela, Willian Jose, Oyarzabal
Barcelona
Barcelona haven’t lost a game in the league since going down 4-3 at Celta Vigo at the start of October. Since then, they’ve won four and drawn once, but unlike their hosts their last four domestic results have been anything but convincing.
The Blaugrana host league leaders Real Madrid at Camp Nou next week. Before the crunch game against their bitter rivals though, a trip to Anoeta threatens to leave Luis Enrique’s men further adrift of Los Blancos, as Zinedine Zidane’s men host Sporting Gijon in a relatively easy fixture on Saturday.
On the team news front, though, it’s more good news than bad for Enrique as only Arda Turan (illness), Samuel Umtiti (hamstring) and Aleix Vidal (personal reasons) missing out.
The best piece of news is that club captain Andres Iniesta joined his teammates for first-team training ahead of schedule after initially being ruled out for six to eight weeks with a knee injury. While Sunday’s game comes to early for the Spain international, he could make a welcome return to the team when Real Madrid come visiting next week.
Up front, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will return to the starting lineup this week after missing the match against Malaga due to illness and suspension respectively.
Manager Luis Enrique will dish out a 4-3-3 of his own, with Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba lining up in front of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Sergio Busquets is likely to have Ivan Rakitic and Rafinha Alcantara for company, helping their defenders out while initiating the attack.
The star trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar will lead the attack, looking to put the Sociedad defence under relentless pressure and finally overturn the losing streak at Anoeta.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Rakitic; Busquets, Rafinha; Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Key Stats
- Barcelona are on a four-match losing streak at the Anoeta Stadium is their worst against a single club since Deportivo La Coruna in 2002 (6).
- Barcelona have failed to win on their last six visits to Real Sociedad (D1 L5), with their last win in San Sebastian coming in 2007 (0-2), when Frank Rijkaard was still at the helm.
- Willian Jose, alongside Yannick Carrasco, has netted the most goals at home in the league this season (five).
- Real Sociedad have the highest conversion rate in La Liga this season, converting 21.4% of their shots into goals.
Prediction
Real Sociedad 2-2 Barcelona
Barcelona have been highly inconsistent this season and have time and again lost ground in the title race to rivals Real Madrid. Last weekend’s draw against Malaga saw them drop four points behind the La Liga toppers, and another loss at the Anoeta Stadium could put them seven adrift from the top spot.
Hosts Real Sociedad are brimming with confidence after four big wins have put them in a good position to challenge for a place in Europe. Barcelona, though, have looked better on the road than at Camp Nou this season, with five wins in six.
With Lionel Messi roaring back to form in recent weeks, this might just be the year that Barcelona overturn their losing run at their bogey ground. Taking stock of everything, a score draw looks the likeliest of results with a close contest on the cards on Sunday.