Barcelona's Misfortune Presented by Hansi Flick

SAN SEBASTIAN, MONDAY – Persistence does not always end happily. There are times when effort betrays the outcome. This experience was felt by Barcelona, who suffered a 1-2 defeat to Real Sociedad despite playing very dominantly.

Barca found their attempts to score thwarted by the video assistant referee (VAR) and the goalpost. Misfortune certainly played a role, but it could have been avoided if Hansi Flick had not experimented with the initial lineup.

The score of 1-2 feels very unfair to "Blaugrana." They dominated the match with 72 percent possession. The expected goals (xG) value for Barca reached 3.68 compared to 1.01 for Sociedad.

This means that based on the quality of opportunities, Barca should have been able to score at least three goals. However, despite such hard efforts, Barca still lost. The misfortune felt particularly acute as three of Barca's goals were disallowed by the referee and five shots hit the goalposts.

"I am not happy with the final result of the match. However, this is how we want to play. We were a bit unlucky in certain situations. We have to accept it. Sometimes it is just like that," said Flick after the match at Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastian, Monday (19/1/2026) early morning WIB.

The first moment of misfortune for Barca occurred with Fermin Lopez's goal just six minutes into the match. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano, through VAR review, overturned the goal because prior to Fermin gaining possession of the ball, Dani Olmo was deemed to have fouled Takefusa Kubo. This moment of Olmo's foul on Kubo disrupted Barca's ability to thwart Sociedad's attacking scheme. When the ball was taken from Kubo, the Sociedad players had already advanced to attack, making it too late for them to return and assist in defense.

Olmo's violation against Kubo has sparked debate and received strong protests from Barca. At first glance, Olmo's method of taking the ball from Kubo appears very clean. However, Manzano believes that there was a touch from Olmo's foot that caused Kubo to lose his balance and fall.

Barca's string of misfortunes began from that moment. After Fermin's goal was disallowed, Frenkie de Jong suffered a similar fate in the 20th minute. The difference was that the Dutch midfielder was caught offside. Six minutes later, Lamine Yamal's goal was disallowed for the same reason.

After that, it was Sociedad who took the lead through Mikel Oyarzabal's volley. Barca's misfortune returned when a penalty awarded for Yamal's foul was disallowed. The penalty was ruled offside before the foul occurred.

"Today was a game where we were fortunate. However, our goalkeeper played well, and that wasn't down to luck," said Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo. As Matarazzo noted, Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro was indeed outstanding, making eight crucial saves.

Misfortune indeed played a role in Barcelona's defeat. However, all of that could have been prevented if Flick had not experimented with the initial lineup. Flick made a peculiar decision by not playing Marcus Rashford from the start to replace Raphinha in the left wing position.

Flick instead entrusted that position to Dani Olmo, who is originally positioned as a second striker or attacking midfielder. Olmo operated alongside Fermin, who has the same original position.

Choosing Olmo in the left wing position can be considered Flick's biggest blunder in this match. Olmo struggled to perform well in a wide position. Two of Olmo's shots should have resulted in goals but only hit the post. Olmo is indeed a special player, but he is more dangerous when operating behind the striker or close to the penalty area rather than in a wide position.

Conversely, Flick's decision to include Rashford in the second half proved fruitful. Rashford scored the equalizing goal by capitalizing on Yamal's cross. Barcelona's misfortune might not have occurred if Flick had played Rashford from the start instead of Olmo.

On the other hand, Sociedad's victory was influenced by Matarazzo's clever strategy, which understood the momentum for both defense and attack. Matarazzo, like Flick, is influenced by German-style pressing football ideas. However, Matarazzo is the antithesis of Hansi Flick, who rigidly applies high defensive pressing. Matarazzo is very flexible, only pressing when the timing is right.

That principle played a role in Sociedad's winning goal scored by Goncalo Guedes in the 71st minute. Matarazzo instructed his players not to be outnumbered in crossing situations. There were four forwards from Sociedad battling inside the penalty area against four Barca defenders.

When the turmoil occurred, Guedes, standing unguarded, unleashed a half-volley shot that was not blocked by Joan Garcia. Flick acknowledged that there was a mistake by his team in such a defensive situation.

"We did make mistakes in defense, but in the end, we played well and I have conveyed that to the team," said Flick.

This defeat has not yet shaken Barcelona's position at the top of the temporary standings of La Liga. However, the loss of three points has not distanced them from the pursuit of Real Madrid, who won against Levante in another match. Barcelona has collected 49 points, while Real has closed in with 48 points.