My reaction: Real Sociedad 2-4 Barcelona

WE HAVE FINALLY BROKEN THE ANOETA CURSE AND WHAT A WAY TO DO IT!!!!

Real Sociedad 2-0 Barcelona – 34 mins

Real Sociedad 2-3 Barcelona- 71 mins

And Real Sociedad 2-4 Barcelona- Full Time

But firstly credit to Real Sociedad as they beat us in our own game with sublime some passing  and movement. La Real were able to play out from the back numerous times to overcome our pressing. On the other hand, we struggled to hold the ball without Don Andres Iniesta missing at the center of the park. Reports suggest that there was a light strain that kept Don out of the eleven as Valverde didn’t want to risk it to become a bigger injury.

That’s probably the answer to many of us who were wondering why no Iniesta for one of our biggest tests of the season. Personally, I was happy that Andre Gomes got some time in his much preferred left side simply because he has been in good touch recently and it was worth giving him that time to give him some confidence.

Moving on, here are the key highlights from Valverde’s post match press conference:

• We didn’t understand the game well in the first half; we were making mistakes. We made sure to fix these mistakes in the second half.
• After the Supercopa disaster, we did not expect to go 29 games unbeaten. The beginning was difficult, but we are gradually improving.
• Gomes is a great player with strength and tactical ability. We needed a good performance from him and he played a good game.
• Making it 2-1 before half-time gave us the feeling that we could make a comeback. La Real’s first goal caused us many difficulties.
• Everyone can think what they want, but in order to win the league, you need to win  more points. 
• We are playing as a team. That’s been the most essential part ever since the start of the league. We want to keep improving.

 

Even Busquets has mentioned that we made corrections in the 2nd half to gain control again. So tactical work has certainly gone in at half-time and one thing I could notice is we found a weakness in the Sociedad back-four which was on their right side. Their right-back Odriozola is really a Barca-esque player and it’s pleasing to the eye when he goes forward but if you noticed…. our first 3 goals came from the gap between Odriozola and their center-back Llorente. So it could probably be the right-back’s nature to go forward and not track-back quickly enough and Suarez simply kept hurting them in that gap.

1st goal assist from the left
2nd goal scored from the left
3rd goal scored from the left again

 

 

Its become obvious what Valverde has brought to this team now. The man has lifted us up both on the pitch and off the pitch because the comeback we saw yesterday isn’t the first of its kind. We had a similar first half in the away fixtures against Valencia, Getafe & Atletico Madrid and in all of these games we had conceded first and came back from behind.

Even in the El Clasico, we had a very hard-fought first half and we turned around the tables in the second half to blow them away. Huge credit needs to be given to our boss here as technical and tactical strength isn’t something new to us while the mental strength that the boys have shown this season is immense and in truth, it is something we haven’t seen in a flippin’ long while.

Such mentality is the key to win in the bigger stages and in the bigger competitions. This is only increasing the respect and the kind of expectations our fans have for this season. As far as the league is concerned, we are 9 points clear from Atletico and 19…. I repeat 19 points clear of Real Madrid.

Difficult away games done for the season:
Atletico , Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Villareal & Valencia.

Considering these are the toughest away fixtures so far, we have picked up 16 out of the possible 18 points. The only tricky away fixtures remaining this season are Sevilla and Celta, both of which are in April. With the kind of form we are in, its safe to bet us going all the way and bring the La Liga trophy back home.

However, our boss seems to stress upon the fact the race is still on but we all know its just to ensure we don’t get complacent in the remaining fixtures. So kudos to you once again, Ernesto!