Match date: 22 February 2014

Barcelona struggled against Real Sociedad (when they were in La Liga) at Anoeta during Pep Guardiola’s reign and this match was no different.

Tata Martino named a significantly altered starting XI compared to the side that beat Manchester City in the Champions League in their midweek match, possibly believing that some key members of the squad needed rest. Montoya, Bratra, Adriano, Song, Pedro, and Neymar were all brought into the side for Mascherano, Xavi, Alves, Alba, Alexis, and Fabregas.

For Real Sociedad, Jagoba Arrasate made changes to the side that won 1-0 against Malaga. Mikel Gonzalez came in for Ion Ansotegi at the back and Ruben Pardo and Haris Seferovic made way for Gorka Elustondo and David Zurutuza as Real Sociedad looked to outnumber Barcelona in midfield.

Real Sociedad’s Pressing and Defensive Shape

Much of Real Sociedad’s success in this match came down to their midfield shape when Barcelona were in possession of the ball. With Elustondo and Zurutuza coming back into the starting XI, Arrasate set out his side in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. Canales played at the top, behind Vela and Griezmann, with Bergara at the bottom in front of the Sociedad back four. Elustondo played on the right and Zurutuza on the left. Tactically, this allowed Sociedad to have four central players to match up with Barcelona’s three central midfielders and control Lionel Messi when he dropped deep from his striking role.

Up top, Vela and Griezmann would put pressure on the Barcelona centre backs and occasionally drop into midfield to add more numbers. When Barcelona had the ball at the feet of Valdes, Bartra, or Pique, the Sociedad players would all press high up the pitch. Below you can see Griezmann cutting off the passing lane between Pique and Bartra, three Sociedad players around Song, Busquets, and Montoya, and another Sociedad player close to Iniesta.

The Sociedad diamond essentially allowed them to man mark Barcelona’s midfielders, especially when Barcelona got closer to the halfway line, bypassing the initial from Vela and Griezmann. Canales was responsible for staying tight to Song or Busquets, which ever dropped deepest at the time, and tried to get them to play the ball back to the centre backs once they did receive rather than have the ability to turn. Elustondo, on the right, marked Iniesta and Zurutuza marked Song or Busquets on the right, depending on their rotation at the time. Perhaps the most important role was Bergara’s. He was relatively free to stay in front of the back four, but was good at blocking off the passing lanes to Messi when the Barcelona striker would drop into midfield. Below you can see a good example of the Sociedad midfield marking.

When Barcelona would play the ball to one of the wide players, which they were forced to do with the amount of numbers Sociedad had in the middle of the pitch, Sociedad would shift over as a unit and allow Barcelona to play a big switch from flank to the other which would allow them to have a 2 v 1 situation against the Sociedad full backs before the midfield shifted over.

Barcelona’s Midfield Problems

Tata Martino’s selection was very puzzling, including both Alexandre Song and Sergio Busquets in the midfield three with Iniesta. When Song was bought from Arsenal in the summer of 2012, he was seen as a back up to Busquets and a potential fill in at centre back. This is just the third time this season in which both Busquets and Song have started. The other two matches were a 3-0 win against Celta Vigo and a 2-1 win against Villarreal, which only saw Barcelona take the lead after Song was replaced by Xavi. In Song’s other appearances under Martino, he has played in the Busquets role behind a mixture of Xavi, Cesc, and Iniesta.

With both Song and Busquets in the side, the two would rotate between who would drop deep between the Barcelona centre backs and who would slide into the more attacking role alongside Iniesta. Regardless of which of the two moved forward though, they both seemed to lack consistency in their movement and positioning to get on to the ball and orchestrate play further up the field. Busquets was involved in Messi’s goal, allowing the ball to run through his legs, and was involved in another chance that Messi had, playing a good pass forward to the striker, but overall, neither Busquets or Song looked comfortable in a more advanced role. Together, they only managed 9 completed passes in the attacking third.

The two were far too static in the ‘Xavi’ role and failed to really compliment Iniesta, leaving all the creativity and link up play between Barcelona’s midfield and attack on Iniesta. However, even he struggled to play around Sociedad’s tight midfield. It took him until about the 19th minute to be able to turn and dribble into space, which resulted in an effort by Pedro that was curled wide.

Barcelona Forced Wide

As stated above, Sociedad’s numbers in midfield made it hard for Barcelona to build up play through the likes of Iniesta, Busquets, and Song and so they were forced into the wide areas. Adriano and Montoya offered an early outlet for the Barcelona centre backs and the holding midfielder and so the responsibility of getting the forwards involved fell to them. The top pass combination in the match was Montoya to Pedro, with the second and third being Adriano to Iniesta (19) and Neymar (18), respectively. The amount of space that Montoya and Adriano had was to be expected due to Real Sociedad playing a compact diamond in midfield, but they lacked effective use of the space. Adriano was able to have two shots deflected away from goal, but aside from Montoya’s assist for Messi’s goal, neither full back had much of a positive attacking influence on the match.

Unfortunately for Barcelona, Neymar and Pedro, along with Messi, failed to really have a significant impact on the match. Combined they had just 6 shots, with only one, Messi’s goal, on target. Neymar and Pedro also struggled against their full backs and the midfielders that would shift over to support. There were opportunities, however, when the two would have 1 v 1 situations after Barcelona quickly switched the ball leaving Sociedad’s midfield to have to quickly shift, but neither took advantage of such situations and were unable to penetrate on the dribble.

Sociedad’s Attacks 

Three goals against Barcelona certainly doesn’t flatter Sociedad; they could have had more due to their own good play and numerous mistakes by Barcelona. Both Vela and Griezmann were bright throughout and put pressure on the Barcelona defenders with their pace and movement.

You can see above that both forwards were willing to keep their movement fluid throughout the match, moving into the wide areas and the channels and running in behind Barcelona’s high line. Sociedad’s second goal was the result of Vela taking a chance after a punt from Bravo was flicked backward by Bartra, then playing the ball across to Griezmann, who scored despite Valdes getting a hand to it.

The third goal was the result of a late run from Zurutuza into the Barcelona box and a good ball into his path by Griezmann. Zurutuza was allowed to run beyond the Barcelona line unmarked, with both Song and Busquets already defending deep. The play was the result of Griezmann’s desire to get onto the end of a hopeful ball by Angel, as he beat Song to the ball, held it up well, and waited for Elustondo. Griezmann then stayed wide to get the attack width, received the ball back and waited for Zurutuza’s run.

Throughout the second half, Real Sociedad looked a much better side than Barcelona. They showed more determination getting forward and their counter attacks got by Barcelona’s midfield far too easily.

Changes

After the third goal, Cesc Fabregas was brought on for Song, but at that point Sociedad began to sit slightly deeper, now only waiting for counter attacking possibilities, rather than pressing and were very compact.

Montoya was brought off for Sanchez, meaning Barcelona were playing with a back three, but the change had little impact on the match as Arrasate brought on Xabi Prieto for Grietzmann, playing him in midfield to add more numbers. He then took off Canales for Ansotegi in the 84th minute, meaning Sociedad were now a 5-4-1. His final change was Pardo for Elustondo in injury time.

Conclusion

An odd team selection from Barcelona, a good shape from Real Sociedad to deny Barcelona going forward, and determination from the Sociedad players when going forward were the difference in the match.

Tata Martino was sent off at half time for an outburst in the tunnel and perhaps this demonstration of frustration was something that Arrasate used to help his players push on with Barcelona looking vulnerable at the back and unable to link up well going forward.

With the loss for Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid’s loss, Real Madrid are now top of La Liga. Real Sociedad continue to get closer to the Champions League spots and, based on this outcome, could push on to do so.