Barcelona 1-2 Real Sociedad: La Liga's 9-Game Winning Streak Ends & Leading by 1 Point; Two Main Reasons for the Defeat

At 4 AM Beijing time on January 19th, in the 20th round of La Liga, Barcelona played an away match against Real Sociedad.

In the first half, Oyarzabal's goal was disallowed but he soon broke the deadlock with a powerful shot. For Barcelona, goals from Fermin, De Jong, and Yamal were all ruled out, including a canceled penalty by Yamal, leaving Barcelona trailing 0-1 at halftime; Olmo and Koundé hit the post with their shots, Rashford scored a header off the bench to equalize, Yamal provided the assist, and Guedes scored again to restore Real Sociedad's lead. Kubo was forced off due to a serious injury, and Soler received a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Pedri.

In the end, Barcelona lost 1-2 away to Real Sociedad, ending their 9-game winning streak in La Liga and maintaining only a 1-point lead at the top!

Real Sociedad vs Barcelona: Matalazo deployed a 4-4-2 formation with Mendes and Oyarzabal as the striking duo; Kubo, Trent, Soler, and Guedes formed the midfield quartet; Aranburu, Jon Martin, Zubeldia, and Gomez made up the back four; Remiro was in goal. The starting lineup's total market value was €152 million.Flick set up a 4-3-3 formation with Olmo, Ferran, and Yamal as the front three; Pedri, De Jong, and Fermin in midfield; Balde, Garcia, Cubasí, and Koundé in defense; Joan Garcia in goal. The starting lineup’s total market value was €830 million..

Match statistics: Barcelona dominated possession with 73%, taking 25 shots, 9 on target; Real Sociedad had 7 shots, 6 of which were on target.

There are actually two main reasons for Barcelona’s loss. First, the squad issues: Barcelona’s key attacking player Rafinha was absent due to injury, which had a huge impact. The starting striker Ferran Torres is more of a target man without much strength and was out of form in this game; Lewandowski came on as a substitute but his form has sharply declined. Barcelona’s attacking problem is the lack of a strong center forward in their prime. Rashford’s substitute goal helped improve Barcelona’s aerial presence near goal. Second is luck: many Barcelona goals were disallowed and several shots hit the post. Although Barcelona created chances, luck was not on their side.

Leading by just 1 point may seem risky, but the end of Barcelona’s 9-game winning streak in La Liga could actually serve as a chance to recalibrate! Considering Real Madrid’s current form and strength this season, Barcelona remains the top favorite to win the La Liga title.