FC Barcelona 4-0 Real Sociedad: Leadership 'made in La Masia'

FC Barcelona is the sole super leader of LaLiga EA Sports 2024-25. The blue and claret team returned to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to face Real Sociedad, and in another display of strength and good football, they secured a victory with pure culé 'DNA' (4-0). The win allows the Catalans to pull ahead at the top of the standings (57), surpassing Atlético de Madrid (56) and Real Madrid (54) after their debacle against Betis (2-1).

Hansi Flick's team faced a true test against the squad led by Imanol Alguacil, asserting their authority against a rival that had already 'rained on the parade' of the blaugranas in the first half of the season. However, the Barcelonans exacted their revenge guided by the brutal talent of La Masia and added three crucial points that grant them sole leadership of the championship and bring them closer to their 28th League title.

La Masia paved the way for victory in the first half

The match began with an exchange of blows on both sides of the field at Montjuïc. The blaugranas sought to create danger through the feet of Pedri, Dani Olmo, and Lamine Yamal, while the donostiarras waited stealthily in their half to punish the home team's high defense with long balls to their forwards.

In fact, the 'txuri-urdin' were the first to take the lead on the scoreboard, but the goal was disallowed for an obvious offside. However, this goal only served to awaken the culé 'beast', which began to gain ground and found the definitive incentive in the 16th minute, after Artiz Elustondo received a red card for bringing down Olmo as he faced Remiro alone.

After the expulsion, the Catalans completely took control of the match and capitalized on their superiority on the field in the 25th minute. Lamine made a spectacular individual play on the right side of the area and passed the ball to the egarense, who delivered a perfect cross to the far post for Gerard Martín to open the scoring and celebrate his first goal as a professional.

Just four minutes later, in the 29th minute, Marc Casadó put distance between the two teams after redirecting a long-range shot from Olmo that was going wide and sending it into the back of the 'txuri-urdin' net. The blaugranas thus went into the locker room with a comfortable lead and the peace of mind of knowing they were leaders of LaLiga.

Martín and Casadó debuted as scorers for Barça

Gerard Martín and Marc Casadó returned to the starting lineup of FC Barcelona against Real Sociedad in style. The fullback and the midfielder led the blaugrana victory against the donostiarra team with their first official goals with the first team.

For the defender, the wait was 24 matches to shout a goal with the first team. The midfielder, on the other hand, shook the net for the first time in his 38th official appearance. Marc has provided 6 assists this season and Gerard, two more. Both homegrown players, culés to the core, celebrated their first official goals with euphoria, kissing the club's crest on their jerseys.

Barça achieved a 'championship' victory

Upon returning from the break, Barça continued to dominate a Real that, with one less player on the field at the Estadi Olímpic, found no answers or outlets. The resistance of the 'txuri-urdin' was as firm as a sheet of paper, and their defense was extremely weak against the 'hurricane' that was the Catalan offense.

The blaugranas quickly increased their lead on the scoreboard, and just 10 minutes after the match resumed, Ronald Araujo celebrated his second goal of the season. The Uruguayan seized a rebound from Remiro after a header from Lewandowski and 'pushed' the ball into the back of the net in the small area of the donostiarras to confirm another culé rout.

Subsequently, against a Real completely overwhelmed and surpassed in all aspects of the game, Robert Lewandowski nailed the final coffin in the coffin. In a play practically 'identical' to that of Casadó's goal, Araujo shot from a distance and, although his shot was indeed on target, it rebounded off the Pole who, almost unintentionally but with the luck of a scorer, celebrated the fourth goal of the night for the blaugranas and his 21st of the season in LaLiga.

From that moment on, the match broke in favor of the blaugranas, who, aware of their brutal superiority on the field and with their sights set on the upcoming match against Benfica in the round of 16 of the Champions League, managed their efforts and sealed a victory that allows them to pull ahead at the top of the LaLiga standings.

Barça is the sole leader of LaLiga

After the victory of Atlético de Madrid against Athletic Club (1-0) and the debacle of Real Madrid against Betis (2-1), a win was non-negotiable for Barça, who had the sole leadership of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25 served to them.

The colchoneros temporarily seized the top of the table thanks to a goal from Julián Álvarez, while the merengues lost ground in the title race after suffering another embarrassment at Benito Villamarín, where goals from Isco and Johnny Cardoso gave the three points to the verdiblancos.

Knowing these results, the culés (57) once again capitalized on their excellent form and took the sole lead in the competition. The blaugranas are going through a sweet moment and have strung together a remarkable run of results since the start of the year, remaining unbeaten and accumulating 19 points out of 21 with 6 victories and 1 draw, surpassing the rojiblancos (56) and the madridistas (54) in the standings.

In this way, Barça strikes another blow on the table and remains firm on the 'throne' of the local competition. The team led by Hansi Flick is 'unstoppable' this 2025 and, in addition to being undefeated, it seems that, as of today, there is no rival that can stop them, as was demonstrated this Sunday in Montjuïc, where they took a key step towards their twenty-eighth title of LaLiga.

Technical sheet of the match:    

• FC Barcelona, 4: Szczesny (P); Koundé, Pau Cubarsí (Eric García, min. 59), Araujo (Fort, min. 76), Gerard Martín; Casadó, Pedri (De Jong, min. 59), Dani Olmo (López, min. 71); Lamine Yamal, Raphinha (Ferran Torres, min. 59), Lewandowski.
• Real Sociedad, 0: Remiro; Aramburu (Traoré, min. 64), Aritz Elustondo (Martín, min. 20), Zubeldia, Javi López; Zubimendi (Turrientes, min. 46), Olasagasti, Pablo Marín; Barrenetxea (Mariezkurrena, min. 46), Óskarsson (Muñoz, min. 77), Sergio Gómez.
• Goals: 1-0 Gerard Martín (min. 25); 2-0 Marc Casadó (min. 29); 3-0 Ronald Araujo (min. 56); 4-0 Robert Lewandowski (min. 60).
• Referee: Quintero González. Sent off Artiz Elustondo