Barcelona defeated 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 at home on Sunday to reclaim the LaLiga title lead. Barcelona’s sixth straight league win put them one point ahead of Atletico Madrid with 57 points from 26 games. After a 2-1 loss to Real Betis on Saturday, defending champions Real Madrid stand third with 54 points.
“We liked our play. It was crucial to win today and top the table. “We’re happy and working well,” said Ronald Araujo, who scored and assisted.
Sociedad tried to catch Barca off guard after the whistle and thought they had grabbed the lead through Sergio Gomez’s deflected shot, but the VAR ruled it offside in the third minute.
A red card for defender Aritz Elustondo’s 17th-minute tackle on Barcelona’s Dani Olmo ended the visitors’ early momentum.
Barcelona quickly took advantage.
In the 25th minute, Hansi Flick’s squad scored when Lamine Yamal dribbled past two opponents and squared for Olmo, whose chipped pass was volleyed in by Gerard Martin for his first professional goal.
Marc Casado equalized three minutes later as Olmo’s long-range drive bounced off him and into the net. After halftime, Barcelona maintained pressing and scored a third goal in the 56th minute when Araujo headed in a rebound from Alex Remiro’s save.
Flick substituted three players with a large lead to prepare for Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first-leg match against Benfica.
“It’s important to have a competitive squad to win trophies, it’s not about 11 or 12 players, it’s about the whole squad and having a deep bench,” he said.
“The manager is enabling players to come off the bench with great confidence.”
Barcelona looked dangerous despite the alterations and scored a fourth when Robert Lewandowski expertly diverted an Araujo shot for his 21st league goal of the season and seal the win. This season, Lewandowski has scored 34 goals in all competitions, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues and the highest for Barcelona since coming in 2022.
Sociedad, eighth, has only four away wins all season.
“The game completely changed (after the red card),” Sociedad defender Javi Lopez stated.
“Before that, we had the ball, we were imposing our style, pressing high up the pitch, not dropping too deep, playing with our style, with confidence.”
