On May 21st, Barcelona succumbed to a defeat against Real Sociedad at their Spotify Camp Nou home. The final scoreline was 2 goals to 1. However, the Blaugranas had already secured the trophy the previous weekend. For Real Sociedad, these 3 points were much-needed as they hope to secure a top 4 finish for this season.
An Inconsequential Result For Barcelona
The scoring was opened early on in the match by Sociedad’s Mikel Merino. The second came through Alexander Sorloth. This was Barcelona’s first home defeat in La Liga in the 2022-23 season. Late on, however, the Blaugrana managed to get one back through Robert Lewandowski.
The results, however, hardly dampened the celebrations, as Barcelona lifted the trophy for this year’s La Liga following the conclusion of the match. On the other side, Imanol Algaucil’s Real Sociedad now sits comfortably in 4th place, 5 points ahead of Villareal, who sits in 5th place. Both sides have 3 games left to play.
Barcelona’s disappointing defeat is most possibly due to the festive week spent by the players. The side sealed their first domestic league trophy since 2019 on May 15th after facing Espanyol. Celebrations had started right after that match had ended and had carried on all the way till as late as Thursday.
Furthermore, on May 19th, Pedri and Ronald Araujo could not be included in the squad because of minor injuries. Gavi, the midfielder, was also suspended for the Real Sociedad tie. As such, it was always going to be a difficult fixture for Barcelona against La Real.
The first goal came as early as minute number 5, following an error by Jules Kounde. Solroth made use of it and laid it off for Merino who directed the ball into the net. The early goal saw a spirited fightback from the home side, however, chances went wasted.
