Barça and Real Sociedad measure their euphoria

Barça and Real Sociedad meet this Wednesday in a real train crash at the Camp Nou. On one side will be the brand new champion of the Spanish Super Cup and leader of the League, while on the other side will appear a team that has nine consecutive victories and that is already stalking the two colossi of Spanish football in the standings. It is an all or nothing to a match for a place in the Copa del Rey semifinals.

“It is a key, decisive game. It’s a great game, they are a great team, both in defense and in attack. It will be very interesting because Imanol’s proposal is excellent. I like many things about Real Sociedad and a great merit belongs to him,” Xavi Hernández assured this Tuesday at the press conference prior to his team’s duel against the Gipuzkoans. The Tarrasa coach did not want to skimp on praise for one of the roosters of the season and warned his team of what they have to do if they want to be in the next phase of the KO tournament. “We have to have the ball, they are very comfortable when they have it,” he said.

The tie against Real Sociedad comes to Barcelona at an unbeatable moment. Xavi’s team closed this Sunday against Getafe 15 round days in which they have passed two Copa del Rey qualifiers, have won the Spanish Super Cup against their eternal rival and have clung to the leadership of the League with two vital victories to avoid the pursuit of Real Madrid. Barça has managed in this section to survive Lewandowski’s loss in the domestic championship and become a more solid team in defense, something that had been threatened after the matches against Espanyol and Intercity.

This Wednesday against Real Sociedad, Xavi will also be able to count on all his players. Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres return, sanctioned in the League for their expulsions against Osasuna and Atlético, while Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong, two footballers who rested against Getafe due to physical problems, are already one hundred percent and could be from the departure. Thus, the question is whether Xavi will repeat the 4-3-3 used last weekend or if he will vary the drawing to include one more midfielder and plant more battle in the midfield to gain possession of the ball. This option was already used in the Metropolitano and against Real Madrid in the Super Cup and in both cases the result was victory.

a rival launched

It will be a great game for Barcelona. In front will be a rival who has taken the lead with nine consecutive victories between the League and the Copa del Rey. Gone are Sevilla, Cazalegas, Coria, Osasuna, Logroñés, Almería, Athletic, Mallorca and Rayo, nine rivals who can attest to how Real Sociedad has returned after the World Cup in Qatar. This streak has made Imanol’s men climb to third place in the League and wonder if, why not, it could be the year to return to the highest continental competition and to savor once again the honey of success in a Cup that already they won only three courses ago.

To wet Barça’s ear at the Camp Nou 32 years later, Imanol will have to once again make bobbin lace. Real Sociedad has shown this season that he knows how to overcome absences like no one else and he will have to do it again. Álex Sola, Mikel Merino, Momo Cho, Ander Guevara, Andoni Gorosabel, Jon Pacheco, Sadiq Umar and David Silva will not be there due to injury. He was out at the last minute due to discomfort in the soleus area. All these absences will condition an eleven in which Take Kubo will be, already recovered from his physical problems, and in which Sorloth, in a great moment of form, will be the great threat to the culé defense.