PREVIEW | Real Sociedad v FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona’s first away trip of the 20022/23 league season takes them to San Sebastian, home of Real Sociedad for a Sunday 10pm CEST kick-off. The game comes after an unexpected setback in the opening fixture, a 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano at the Spotify Camp Nou despite high hopes of a comfortable win to open their Liga account with the full three points.

The Reale Arena was, for many years, a ground where Barça struggled to get results, but in recent years the team has been performing very nicely there, and is currently on a run of seven league games without defeat in this fixture.

But Real have been one of the best performing sides in the competition of late, having once again qualified for the Europa League this season. And they got off on the right foot this season with a 1-0 win away to Cadiz. This is, on paper, one of the trickiest ties that Barça will have to face all season.

Team news

Xavi announced his squad of 23 for the game on the morning of the match. He has no new injury concerns to worry about, but Sergio Busquets is suspended after collecting a red card last week.

For Real, Mikel Oyarzabal is out long-term with a cruciate ligament injury, while Diego Rico may sit this one out with a hamstring problem. Alex Sola and Carlos Hernandez are also nursing hamstring difficulties, and Martin Merquelanz has an injured knee.

Did you know?

A win for Barça on Sunday 10pm would be the first time since 1955 that they have won three consecutive league games away to Real.

Real Sociedad have not beaten Barça (home or away) in 12 league games (2 draws and 10 Barça wins). It’s their second longest winless streak of all time against the Catalans. From 1952 to 1960 they went for 17 games without a single victory.

In 25 league meetings with Real as a player, Xavi won 17, drew four and lost four games. His only game as team manager was a 1-0 win last season (Aubameyang scored the only goal). Meanwhile, Imanol Alguacil has faced Barça eight times as coach and is still looking for his first win.

In the last decade, Barça have only lost their first away fixture once, a 1-0 defeat at Athletic Club in 2019/20. All the other seasons have seen them get off to a winning start, with the sole exception of a 1-1 draw, which was also in Bilbao. On the other eight occasions, the Catalans beat Osasuna, Malaga, Villarreal, Athletic Club (twice), Alavés, Valladolid and Celta Vigo. More of the same on Sunday would be very nice indeed!

Xavi says

The Barça coach said there would no quick fix and that building a winning team does not happen overnight ahead of the trip to San Sebastián.