Barcelona’s LaLiga title celebrations fell flat at Camp Nou as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Xavi’s side claimed the top flight with a 4-2 win over Espanyol last time out, with the team celebrating on the pitch afterwards – much to the chagrin of their rivals’ fans.
Still, the Blaugrana failed to win their first league title since 2019 on their return home as Mikel Merino’s early strike and Alexandre Sorloth’s break earned the points for La Real.
Roberto Lewandowski’s late header raised hope for Barca but the visitors held on for a first away win at Camp Nou since May 1991, putting Imanol Alguacil in the box for Champions League football with three games remaining.
La Real chilled their hosts on the counter within five minutes, Merino finishing early.
Barca looked set to equalize when Ousmane Dembele met Lewandowski’s cross, but Alex Remiro produced a fantastic save before the Poland international headed over from close range.
The Blaugrana, meanwhile, were living a charmed life at the other end as Ander Barrenetxea wasted two golden opportunities either side of Marc-Andre ter Stegen to deny Mohamed Ali-Cho.
Sorloth then headed wide from six yards, but the Norway international then made no mistake as he finished off a superb counter-attack before Ter Stegen made a superb stop to deny Diego Rico.
Lewandowski’s fine header ensured a grandstand finish late on but La Real held firm for five minutes to go five points clear of fifth-placed Villarreal with a dignified victory.
What does it mean? A memorable victory ruins the title party
There was to be no title win for Barca, although in reality they were far from deserving of it.
La Real enter Saturday’s game having lost each of their last 24 outings at the Camp Nou in LaLiga, drawing there in 1995.
The visitors recorded 1.9xG to Barca’s 1.5, with 12 of their 13 shots coming from inside the hosts’ box, showing how easily they found space in the final third at times.
Leave a comment