Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Barcelona may have won on Saturday but their bid to close the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid was all in vein with Los Blancos snatching a dramatic victory in Gijon earlier in the day. After a heavy Champions League defeat to Juventus in midweek, Luis Enrique’s side had to bounce back if they were to stay in the race for the title.
They certainly did their bit with a victory over Real Sociedad but they were certainly made to work for it as they just came out on top in a 5 goal thriller at The Nou Camp. All the goals came in the first 45 minutes and what a pulsating half of football it was.
Barcelona raced into a 2-0 lead with a double from Argentine Lionel Messi. His first on 17 minutes was a well hit strike from 25 yards which opened the scoring and 20 minutes later, he doubled the advantage for the Catalan giants. It may not have been pretty as he scuffed a shot home but that said it was just as important.
But they handed Real Sociedad a lifeline just before the break when French international defender Samuel Umtiti put threw his on net to halve the deficit. Normal service was resumed just a minute from the end of the first half when Paco Alcacer made it 3-1, but the game took another twist when Xabi Prieto made it 3-2 in stoppage time.
As far as goals went that was all there was and Barcelona managed to see out the second half without throwing away two vital points. It’s a win that sets up the all important El Clasico next weekend very nicely, failure to win against Real Madrid at The Bernabeu and their title hopes are surely all but over.
Here is all you need to know from Saturday
