Barcelona’s impressive seven-game winning streak across all competitions has come to an with a narrow 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad at the always-challenging Anoeta Stadium on Sunday evening.
This means the Blaugrana’s lead at the top of La Liga remains six points.
Despite an initially promising start, Barça fell victim to both a controversial VAR decision and some of their most lackluster play this season.
The Blaugrana opened strongly, showing confidence on the ball, crisp passing, and dynamic movement up front.
Their efforts quickly paid off when Pau Cubarsí delivered a stunning pass from deep in his own half, setting up Robert Lewandowski to find the net.
But to Barcelona’s dismay, the goal was ruled out by VAR. In a call that baffled both fans and pundits, the semi-automated offside technology appeared to show Lewandowski as being onside, with his defender keeping him in line.
The decision rattled Barcelona, throwing off their rhythm and giving Real Sociedad the upper hand.
After this setback, Barça’s performance started to unravel. Errors began creeping in, with the team losing possession in vulnerable areas, allowing Sociedad to build confidence and gain traction with their high pressing game.
The hosts’ forwards exploited Barça’s high defensive line, finding pockets of space to create dangerous chances.
Real Sociedad took full advantage of their aggressive approach to Barça’s goalkeeper Iñaki Peña. In one instance, a long ball from Peña was swiftly intercepted by the Sociedad defense and quickly turned into a threat, as Sheraldo Becker found himself unmarked in the box and finished calmly to give the home side the lead.
The goal left Barça scrambling to find an equalizer, often at the expense of leaving their own defense exposed. As the first half progressed, Barcelona’s lack of composure became apparent.
Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal nearly doubled the lead after capitalizing on a swift counter-attack but missed the chance, allowing Barça to reach halftime trailing by just a single goal.
With work to do, Hansi Flick’s halftime adjustments were crucial. He brought on Dani Olmo in place of Frenkie de Jong, repositioning Pedri alongside Marc Casadó in a double pivot to stabilize the midfield.
Ahead of them, Raphinha, Olmo, and Fermín López were tasked with driving the attack, supporting Lewandowski up front. Barça came out with renewed urgency, pressing higher up and attacking with more directness, clearly aiming to pile on the pressure and turn things around.
Just minutes into the second half, Cubarsí missed a prime opportunity to score with a close-range header, while Becker wasted another chance for Sociedad at the far post shortly after, as both sides exchanged dangerous chances.
Sociedad, however, kept their composure, effectively nullifying Barça’s attempts to gain ground and keeping them from creating clear-cut opportunities as the match wore on.
With 20 minutes remaining, Flick made a further attacking push, substituting Ansu Fati for Fermín in hopes of adding a spark in the final third.
Yet, Barça continued to struggle against La Real’s relentless pressing, unable to break free and advance into dangerous positions.
Sociedad looked poised to score a second goal but lacked the finishing touch to seal their advantage, keeping the game on edge.
In a final roll of the dice, Flick introduced Gavi for Jules Kounde, shifting Casadó to an improvised right-back role to provide some late stability.
Sociedad, however, continued to slow the tempo and frustrate Barça’s efforts. In added time, Pau Víctor came on as a second striker, but despite these efforts, Barça couldn’t find an equalizer.
The final whistle confirmed Barcelona’s second league defeat of the season.
On balance, this loss felt deserved as Sociedad were the better side for much of the game, but the contentious VAR decision undeniably altered the course of the match.
Whether Barça would have maintained control had the opening goal counted remains uncertain, but their frantic response to falling behind highlighted some weaknesses.
The upcoming international break offers the Blaugrana an opportunity to regroup and shake off this frustrating result. With two weeks until their next fixture, Barça will look to rediscover the composure and quality that has driven them to the top of La Liga so far.
