The Blaugrana returned to winning ways
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored as Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in La Liga on Thursday. Xavi’s side got a much-needed win after having lost their last two consecutive games.
The Spaniard brought the Gabonese hitman back into the starting XI, after having favoured Memphis Depay in the 1-0 loss against Cadiz last time out. Ferran Torres and Ousmane Dembele kept their place on the wings, with Frenkie De Jong, Sergio Busquets and Gavi in midfield. Gerard Pique partnered Ronald Araujo at the heart of defense, with Dani Alves and Jordi Alba on either flank.
The Blaugrana started the game off on fire as Aubameyang gave them the lead in the 11th minute. Dembele saw his effort hit the post but Gavi kept the attack alive and found Torres on the flank. The Spaniard picked out the striker at the back post with a great ball as the former Arsenal striker nodded home to open the scoring.
Barcelona continued to dominate the game for the rest of the half, as both Torres and Aubameyang spurned great chances to double the lead. The two sides went in at half-time with the Blaugrana one goal to the good. Sociedad, however, started the stronger side in the second-half, as Alexander Sorloth missed a golden opportunity to level the scores. Adnan Januzaj found the striker in the box with a driven cross, but the Norwegian inexplicably fired over the bar with the goal gaping in front of him.
The duo combined for another chance in the 58th minute, but Marc Andre ter Stegen was on hand to deny the striker this time after Januzaj played him through. Despite Sociedad growing into the game, Barcelona had a chance to secure the win in the game in the 73rd minute when Torres picked out Gavi in the box. However, the midfielder was unable to apply the finishing touch as the score remained 1-0.
The game ended 1-0 to Barcelona as they showed resilience to play out 10 minutes of added time at the end of the second half.
Barcelona will look to finish the season strongly
Following the win, Xavi’s side are 2nd in the table, tied on points with Sevilla with a game in hand. The Blaugrana are currently 15 points behind league-leaders Real Madrid with six games left to play.
They will host Rayo Vallecano at the weekend in what should a straighforward game for Xavi’s side.
With that being said, here are the best Twitter reactions from Barcelona’s 1-0 win against Real Sociedad:
Xavi: “Ter Stegen is very important to me. He’s a leader, he dominates with his feet – for me he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world”. 🇩🇪 #FCB
Barcelona will trust ter Stegen also for next season. He’s never been in doubt for Xavi: key part of the project.
Sergio Busquets passed Andres Iniesta for third-most games played in Barcelona history today 👏 https://t.co/UgcB93XOKr
Slander anyone for bad performances but never forget to praise him for his good performances.
What a performance Marc-André ter Stegen 🙌🛐🕷️🔥
Keep it up spidy.
#Barcelona https://t.co/D3XzmFPzU3
Ter Stegen kept his 128th clean sheet for Barcelona, surpassing Sadurni as the goalkeeper with the 3rd most clean sheets in Barça’s history.
— @barca19stats https://t.co/zGgGW7Qhjw
Ferran Torres has now been directly involved in 13 goal in his first 20 games for barcelona:
7 goals
6 assist
Special ⚡
#RSOFCB https://t.co/u3YXN7Cj7n
Pique returns and Barcelona keep their first clean sheet in five games.
Barcelona are still unbeaten in away games. 13 games wow 😆👍
I’m glad Barcelona was able to grind out this win even when it cost us an arm and leg plus our balls. It’s sad! Xavi knows best, he watches from the fans’eyes view. I believe he knows what to do. Vamos 💪🏾💙❤️ https://t.co/uWT9ZQMfAF
To Barcelona fans, pls i don’t want to see any Ter Stegen slander on my tl till the end of the season.
Thank you❤💙 https://t.co/36bpN6upwQ
Aubameyang in La Liga this season for Barcelona:
— 11 games
— 8 starts
— 9 goals
Only Memphis Depay (10) has more La Liga goal for the club this season than the Gabon star….
Auba ⚡
#RSOFCB https://t.co/izgJSUMziL
Since arriving at Barcelona, Auba has scored 5 match winning goals:
Valencia (A)
Athletic Club (H)
Galatasaray (A)
Real Madrid (A)
Real Sociedad (A) https://t.co/Ozn8OzGEZa
The way De Jong has managed this game to an insane level will not be talked about. He is built for these chaotic games. Every phase of the game he’s played Sociedad off the park. Timeless. Effortless #UltimateFootballer https://t.co/EfC0KOko9g
📊 Frenkie de Jong’s display against La Real by numbers:
90′ played
43/46 passes completed
93.5% passing accuracy
3 key passes
3 shots
2/3 successful dribbles
11/14 duels won
3/4 tackles won
5 recoveries
2/2 fouls won.
𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄. https://t.co/Jn7dG20cbv
To those rival fans that waited for Barça to lose..
Goodnight and yeah, delete those drafts. https://t.co/SjAZc5lDEp
We really needed Ter Stegen today and he didn’t disappoint. Very crucial saves from him that lead us back to 2nd position. Let’s go Barça ❤💙
