Barca postpones Real’s coronation date

In the 11th minute, from Jordi Alba’s cross, Ousmane Dembele controlled and then hit the post. The ball then returned to Barca. And from Ferran Torres’ cross, Aubameyang headed high to open the scoring. It was also Barca’s only shot on target for 90 minutes.

Aubameyang scored 11 goals in the last 14 matches for Barca, a record equal to his previous 34 matches in all competitions. The Gabon striker’s goal brought Barca back to second in La Liga with 63 points, equal to Sevilla but ranked above thanks to the difference. They are currently 15 points behind Real, and have one match left. Real therefore won’t be able to crowned early this weekend. The Madrid team can only be crowned as early as April 30, if two conditions are satisfied. Firstly, Barca did not win Rayo Vallecano in the round of 21 match on May 24. Second, Real must take all three points when receiving Espanyol in round 34 on April 30.

There are not many opportunities to compete for the La Liga championship, the owner of Camp Nou aims to finish second. In addition to tickets to the Champions League, the runner-up will help Barca participate in the Spanish Super Cup next season. In January, they lost to Real – the team that then won the Spanish Super Cup – in the semi-finals at King Fahd, Saudi Arabia with a score of 2-3.

Barca won 6-1 at Anoeta without an audience last season. But yesterday, Xavi’s teachers and students experienced a much more difficult match in front of a packed stadium, and were inferior to Sociedad in almost every parameter. They only held the ball 44.3%, the second least possession statistics in a La Liga match, just over 44% in the match against Betis in March 2019. In addition, they have only one shot on target, 444 passes, and three corners. Sociedad’s stats are 55.7% of possession, five shots on target, 541 passes and five corners, respectively.

Thanks to Aubameyang’s early goal, Barca was better in the first half and created more waves in the home goal. 29 minutes, Frenkie de Jong Cut the sole of the right foot outside the penalty area to send the ball to the column. Ten minutes later, Aubameyang missed his chance to score twice when he hit Alex Remiro’s corner wide.

The scenario reversed in the second half, when Sociedad controlled the game and created countless opportunities. In the 47th minute, Adnan Januzaj – a player who played for Man Utd – crossed the ball smoothly, but Alexander Sorloth bounced the ball into the sky in front of an empty goal. More than ten minutes later, the Norwegian striker missed a delicious opportunity when he did not win Ter Stegen in the face.

Xavi had to refresh almost the entire defense, when respectively sending Eric Garcia, Sergino Dest, Clement Lenglet to replace Ronald Araujo, Dani Alves and Gerard Pique. Of the three people who left the field, Araujo and Alves were both injured, unable to continue playing. However, these changes still help Barca kick more firmly against the pressure of the host in the second half of the match, to preserve the victory.

On April 24, Barca returned to Camp Nou to receive Rayo Vallecano in the match for round 21 of La Liga, while Real Sociedad was off this weekend.

Squad:

Sociedad: Alex Remiro, Zaldua (Gorosabel 81), Zubeldia, Normand, Diego Rico, Rafinha (Guridi 81), Merino, Zubimendi (Guevara 90), Januzaj (Martin 87), Sorloth, Isak (Portu 87).

Barca: Ter Stegen, Alves (Dest 66), Araujo (Garcia 55), Pique (Lenglet 82), Alba, Busquets, Gavi, De Jong, Dembele, Torres, Aubameyang (Luuk de Jong 82).

Hong Duy