In Thursday night’s (21 April) 1-0 win at Real Sociedad, the Barca manager had to withdraw three of his defenders due to injuries. Centre-back Ronald Araujo was replaced by Eric Garcia following a knee injury in the 55th minute. Dani Alves went to the ground 11 minutes later, following a tackle from former teammate Rafinha. Sergino Dest was brought in to replace him. Gerard Pique, who was seen clutching his thigh in the first half itself, was finally taken off for Clement Lenglet in the 80th minute.
In the post-match press conference, Xavi was asked to comment on the slew of injuries his players had picked up at the Reale Arena. The Spaniard unhesitantly pinned it on the change in playing style. Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, the 42-year-old said:
Xavi reserved special praise for Pique and urged the team to improve on a “tactical, physical, and psychological” levels, adding:
Following last night’s win, second-placed Barcelona find themselves 15 points behind league leaders Real Madrid with a game in hand. The Blaugrana will return to La Liga action against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday night (24 April).
Frenkie de Jong the star of the show in Barcelona’s hard-fought win over Real Sociedad
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the only goal for Barca in Thursday night’s narrow 1-0 win over Real Sociedad. While his goal ended up being decisive, the Gabonese was not the best Barcelona player on the pitch. That praise is reserved for midfield maestro Frenkie de Jong.
The Netherlands international, who got a lot of flak for his sub-par outing in the 1-0 loss to Cadiz on Monday night (18 April), ran the show at the Reale Arena. He was calm and collected on the ball, rarely misplaced a pass, and was always full of ideas in dangerous areas.
The former Ajax man attained 93.5 percent passing accuracy (45 passes), played three key passes and won 11 duels. He was unlucky to see his 25-yard screamer drift wide of Alex Remiro’s goal.
Also Read: Ranking Barcelona’s 5 best players against Real Sociedad | La Liga 2021-22
0 votes
