Real Sociedad’s uphill task
Barcelona host Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou on Thursday in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final. The Catalans go into this one high on confidence after winning their last La Liga game against Eibar and breaking the decade-long “curse of Anoeta” in their last meeting with the Basque side.
They go into the fixture with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, so the rest of the job should be easier and comfortable, and at the end of ninety minutes, they should be through to the semi-finals. Their last game against Eibar ended four-nil in their favour bringing their winning streak to four in all competitions, keeping three cleans sheets and conceding just one goal in the process. Luis Enrique’s side have also won their last five matches at home by two or more goals and have only lost one of their last twenty-three games in the Copa del Rey, so they are looking very good for this one.
Real Sociedad, on the other hand, will be doing the travelling to the Camp Nou hoping to overturn a one-goal deficit and push their way through to the semi-final of the competition. They are having an excellent season by their standards as they have only lost three of the last sixteen games they’ve played, and one would think they are still very much in contention for the semi-final berth.
The question mark, however, is on their results at the Camp Nou in recent times as they have lost their last two games at the stadium. At home against any side, they are always good enough to win convincingly or cause an upset. They are also good enough to put away the smaller sides whether home or away, the major problem for them, though, are the top sides when they are playing away, and the Camp Nou is an even more difficult stadium for them. Real Sociedad’s defence is their Achilles heel; in two of their last three defeats, they have lost by four goals, so they will need to be extra dogged if they are going to get anything from this.
Despite Barcelona’s record against Sociedad at the Camp Nou and their recent win at the Anoeta, the truth is that they have not been consistent enough this season, and a brief lapse in concentration could see Sociedad come back into the game. However Real Sociedad have not won in ten of their last sixteen Copa del Rey games; this, coupled with their poor record at the Camp Nou shows that their chance of a win tomorrow is very slim at best.
TEAM NEWS
Real Sociedad have a couple of key players out of the fixture. Asier Illarramendi is suspended for this one while Gonzalez, Bergara, Agirretxe, Bautista, and Martinez are out injured. For Barcelona Busquets, Rafinha and Iniesta are out injured and will have to sit this one out.
All evidence point to a comfortable Barcelona win in this one, there will also be a good number of goals, so betting on over 2.5 goals may be a smart one.
Home
Football 
Basketball
Hockey
American Football
Baseball
Rugby
Volleyball
Handball
Esoccer
