Barcelona Vs Real Sociedad, Taboo Last Minutes “Blaugrana”

BARCELONA, SATURDAY – Maintaining focus until the final minutes has become a skill that Barcelona has struggled to achieve this season. Despite being equipped with evenly distributed attacking capabilities across all lines, the difficulty in maintaining focus has repeatedly cost Barca. The tendency to lose focus in the final minutes becomes a taboo when "Blaugrana" hosts Real Sociedad in the continuation of the Spanish League at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Barcelona, Sunday (2/3/2025) at 10:15 PM WIB.

Barca's latest match against Atletico Madrid in the semifinals of the Spanish King's Cup serves as clear evidence of this weakness. Having led 4-2, Barca was ultimately left disappointed as Atletico managed to equalize the score to 4-4. Atletico's two equalizing goals were scored just minutes before the match ended.

This is not the first time Barca has suffered from a lack of focus in the final minutes. Previously, Barca also conceded several moments near the end of the match when facing Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League. At that time, despite leading by two goals, Barca conceded in the closing minutes of the second half and had to settle for a draw.

This habit, if it continues, will be very detrimental when facing Sociedad. The team coached by Imanol Alguacil has a tendency opposite to Barca, namely frequently scoring goals in the last 15 minutes of the match.

We are angry with the last ten minutes. Given the level of play, we deserved a draw.

Up to the 25th week of the league, Sociedad has scored a total of 23 goals. As much as 43 percent, or 10 of their goals, were scored during these critical moments. The likelihood of goals being scored in the last 15 minutes of the match is relatively high due to the players' focus and stamina beginning to wane.

"We are angry about (the team's performance in) the last ten minutes. Considering the level of play, we deserved a draw," said Barca defender, Pau Cubarsi.

Under the skilled leadership of coach Hansi Flick, Barca has transformed into a team with an insatiable hunger for goals. Their goal-scoring flow comes not only from the forward line but also from the defense. Cubarsi is one such example. The 18-year-old central defender has been involved in a total of four Barca goals (one goal and three assists).

There is no ivory that is not cracked, behind Barca's superiority, there is a big weakness that could become a loophole for their opponents.

Not only Cubarsi, Flick also admitted to being furious with his players' carelessness in the final minutes. The German coach could not explain why his team was prone to losing focus. He said the players should not have acted so carelessly.

"Maybe (conceding goals) too easily. The fourth goal made me very angry. There was no pressure on the ball carrier. This is not how we do it," said Flick after the match against Atletico.

Sociedad are believed to not entertain Barca's open game. In addition to playing at the opponent's home, "La Real" is also missing a number of key players due to card suspensions such as Takefusa Kubo and Nayef Aguerd.

Appearing without full strength, Sociedad will likely play more defensively. Alguacil is faced with the choice of overhauling his mainstay formation, 4-1-4-1, to 4-5-1. Martin Zubimendi will lead the midfield orchestration. Meanwhile, up front, Mikel Oyarzabal is the lone striker.

This match will be interesting considering that Barca is known to like to apply a high defensive line and play pressing. Meanwhile, Sociedad's back line is quite resistant to the opponent's high pressure. Alguacil has trained his defense to flow the ball from below.

Sociedad's goalkeeper, four defenders and two defensive midfielders were very adept at breaking up the opponent's pressure with short passing combinations. In that way, Sociedad players could always find space or gaps after receiving the first wave of pressure from the opponent.

In the first meeting at Sociedad's headquarters this season, Barca had to go home empty-handed after losing 0-1. The match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium will be filled with the scent of Barca's revenge as they seek to avenge that defeat. (REUTERS)