Barcelona fought back from being a goal behind to lead at half-time, and that is how things stayed when neither side was able to score after the restart.
Barcelona deserved to win
Ronald Koeman was delighted with Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Real Sociedad on Wednesday night, especially their first-half performance at Camp Nou. Barcelona fought back from being a goal behind to lead at half-time, and that is how things stayed when neither side was able to score after the restart. “It was an important win, and we deserve it,” the Dutchman said after the game. “The 2nd half was a little tougher because they created more, but we were up against a great team. Our first half was fantastic, although we had to score more. We pressed, and La Real played well with the ball, but we stole it. We pressed very well. It was an open game because the opponents know how to play well. But seeing these chances, the game was ours, and the victory was deserved.”
The coach caused a surprise by leaving Clement Lenglet on the bench to field Ronald Araujo and Oscar Mingueza at centre-back, but the two were impressive. “They are Barcelona players,” Koeman said of the pair. “They can play with pressure. And there are no fans. They have shown their quality and that they have a future.” Koeman went on to put Antoine Griezmann’s failure to score to bad luck before continuing to praise goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. “He’s a great goalkeeper,” explained Koeman. “He saved a sure goal at the end. Now Barcelona are closing in on those at the top of the LaLiga table, and the Dutchman has not yet writing them off. “There are still a lot of matches left,” Koeman said. “A lot can happen, and a lot depends on ourselves.”