Barcelona vs Real Sociedad - Competition: Spanish Copa del Rey
After 59 rounds at the top of the Primera Division, part of it in
this season and part of it in the previous one, Barcelona has slid on
second place which now has to share with its biggest rival Real Madrid.
Barcelona was close to drop on third place, which hasn’t happened for
ages but is nevertheless sufficiently shaken. The cause of the fall is
not only the first defeat at home by Valencia on Saturday but Barca
before that drew twice with Atletico and Levante, so the loss of the
leadership positions was inevitable.
When it comes to the match
against Valencia, they were totally unexpectedly defeated by
significantly weakened opponent who maximally punished the desperate
defence of the Catalans. Barcelona is very vulnerable on both wings and
opponents use it but this time the stoppers have failed too. Three
received goals is half of all hitherto received at the Camp Nou, which
only confirms where the problem is. Absences cannot be an excuse as only
Neymar and Puyol didn’t play. We should expect changes in the team now
given that this is a Cup match and an uncomfortable visiting match
against Seville in waiting for them in the next round of the
championship.
Real Sociedad too has no reason to be satisfied after it failed in
one more derby match last weekend. The numbers are the best proof as
this team received a total of 17 goals and scored just three in four
away matches; against first three-placed teams and fifth-placed
Villarreal. So, when they play against a weaker team or when they are
the hosts the whole thing works, but for stronger ones Real Sociedad
hasn’t found a medicine yet. On Sunday in Madrid they even looked good
for the most part of the match, especially in the first half when they
played on equal footing. They felt apart in last 20 minutes when they
received three goals, so at the end it was a convincing 4-0 win for
Atletico.
Coach Arass unexpectedly experimented a bit or he
deliberately rested several players for the match at the Camp Nou and
Vela was the lone striker, Agirretxe stayed on the bench, and Gazantaga
and Zurutuza were a novelty in the midfield. Now the question is how
much he will change the team, as running out at the Camp Nou with a
mixed team can bring a real catastrophe.
Possible line-ups:
Real Sociedad: Zubikarai – Zaldua, M. Gonzalez, I. Martinez, Jose Angel – Ruben Pardo, Zurutuza – Vela, Xabi Prieto, Griezmann – Agirretxe.
FC Barcelona: Pinto – Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano – Song, Roberto, Iniesta – Tello, A.Sanchez, Messi.
Match date: Wednesday, 05 February 2014
Kick Off Time: 21:00 GMT
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
