WOODWORK AND VAR: BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS BEHIND BARCELONA’S SHOCK 2-1 DEFEAT
Barcelona's 11-game streak ends in San Sebastián! Relive the VAR drama, Rashford’s goal, and Guedes’s shock winner for Sociedad.
Barcelona had a wild one. They hit the post four times, saw two goals chalked off, and now lead Real Madrid by just a single point at the top. Real Madrid closed the gap on Saturday by beating Levante, thanks to Alvaro Arbeloa’s side taking care of business.
Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal got the opener against Barcelona, but right after Marcus Rashford drew Barca level, Guedes fired home the winner.
Sociedad, now unbeaten in four matches under their new American coach, Pellegrino Matarazzo, finished with ten after Carlos Soler saw red late on. Still, they dug deep, held on, and climbed to eighth.
“I told the team we played well and just got unlucky. Sometimes you lose and can’t explain it, but this was one of those days. Now we just have to focus on the next game,” said Barca boss Flick.
Sociedad’s keeper, Alex Remir,o was everywhere, pulling off big saves to keep Barcelona out.
“Three massive points and a great performance,” Remiro said. “We’ve started the year in top form. This is our new energy; you can see how much we’ve changed.”
The match at the rainy Reale Arena started at full tilt. In the opening half-minute, Oyarzabal thought he’d scored from a Guedes cross, only to be flagged offside. Then Barca’s Fermin Lopez smashed in a long-range shot, but Dani Olmo had fouled in the build-up—ruled out.
Barcelona’s teenage winger Lamine Yamal kept causing problems down the right. He even scored, but the flag went up for a razor-thin offside call. Sociedad then struck against the run of play—Oyarzabal volleyed in Guedes’s cross at the near post.
In the second half, Barcelona piled on the pressure. Remiro and the woodwork kept them out. Olmo rattled the post from a Lopez cross, and Remiro stopped him again moments later with a sharp save. The highlight? Remiro tipped Robert Lewandowski’s header onto the bar—save of the night.
Eventually, Rashford found the equaliser, heading in Yamal’s cross with twenty minutes left. But right after, Sociedad pounced. Barca keeper Joan Garcia spilt a shot from Soler, who collected the rebound and crossed for Guedes to smash home.
Sociedad could’ve put it away when Garcia was stranded, and Oyarzabal shot at goal, but Pau Cubarsi somehow cleared off the line. Barcelona nearly levelled again—Joao Cancelo, making his second debut, crossed for Jules Kounde, who crashed a header off the bar.
Tensions flared late. Soler got sent off for a nasty foul on Pedri, and the ref added nine minutes of stoppage time. Rashford almost rescued a point, hitting the post directly from a corner, but Barca couldn’t break through.
“We deserved to win today. We had so many chances, but if you don’t finish them, you don’t win,” said Frenkie de Jong, who also complained about referee Jesus Gil Manzano. “He was arrogant,” added de Jong, and Flick agreed: “I don’t want to waste energy on him. Frenkie’s right.”
Sociedad coach Matarazzo praised his players’ heart, admitted they had some luck, and thanked Remiro. “A top keeper isn’t luck, but yeah, it’s a bit of both,” he said.
Elsewhere, after drawing at Sociedad last time out, Diego Simeone’s Atletico got back to winning ways. Sorloth’s goal put them seven points clear of Espanyol in fifth. The match was tight, but early in the second half, Sorloth soared to meet Pablo Barrios’s cross and broke the deadlock. That’s three in three games for Sorloth now.
“He’s in his best run since he joined us,” Simeone said.
BARTOMEU UNCOVERS SECRET 2017 MBAPPé BID DURING REVEALING CADENA SER INTERVIEW
Josep Maria Bartomeu reveals Barcelona targeted Kylian Mbappé in 2017, but coaches preferred a move for Ousmane Dembélé instead
Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has just dropped a bit of a bombshell: right after Neymar left for PSG, Barcelona actually went after Kylian Mbappe. That chaotic summer in 2017, when Neymar's record-breaking move sent shockwaves through the club, left them scrambling for a new superstar.
Bartomeu admitted in an interview with SER that Neymar’s shock exit caught everyone off guard. “Neymar’s departure came as a shock to the club; we didn’t want him to leave,” he said. Suddenly, Barcelona was scouring the market for big names, and with Mbappe starring at Monaco, he became their top target.
But here’s the twist: even though the club reached out for both Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, the coaching staff made the final call. Bartomeu explained, “We made an offer for Mbappe and another for Dembele. The coaching staff preferred Dembele.” So, instead of pushing for Mbappe, Barcelona pressed ahead with Dembele, ultimately striking a deal with Borussia Dortmund worth €105 million plus add-ons.
Of course, there was the small matter of money, too. Bartomeu clarified that the price Monaco set for Mbappe was simply out of reach: €180 million, take it or leave it, and it was PSG who could step up. “It wasn’t an offer in the strict sense. They would say to you, "He's worth €180 million." If you want Mbappe, it’s €180 million, and Paris paid it.” Between the steep price and the coaching staff’s strong preference for Dembele, Barcelona backed off.
Bartomeu also opened up about how he handled transfers during his tenure. One thing stood out: after he pushed for the Luis Suarez signing from Liverpool despite all the controversy and got hammered with criticism, he decided to step back and trust the technical staff from then on. Suarez went on to win the Champions League and four La Liga titles with Barcelona, but that experience taught Bartomeu a lesson. “The only decision I made as president or as an administrator, and which I defended vigorously, was the signing of Suarez,” he said. “I was heavily criticised by all the media, so I learned the lesson that the president or administrators cannot interfere in sporting matters. We must trust the technical staff, the sporting directors, and the coaches; it is they who decide on signings.”
BARCELONA SECURE 14-POINT LEAD OVER MADRID; ESPANYOL RESULT NOW DETERMINES TITLE
Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres scored late to move Barcelona 14 points clear, leaving them one Madrid loss from the title.
Barcelona now sit 14 points ahead of Real Madrid, and if Madrid slips up against Espanyol on Sunday, the title’s theirs.
Lewandowski finally broke the deadlock after 81 minutes, nodding in a header, and Torres added another four minutes from the end. Osasuna didn't quit, though Raul Garcia pulled one back late, but Barcelona held on for all three points. They’re inching closer to a second league title in a row, the club’s 29th overall.
If Madrid beats Espanyol, Barcelona’s next chance to seal it comes in the Clásico on May 10 against their biggest rivals.
Flick’s trying to keep his team’s focus on the next match rather than the Clasico, but Barcelona played the first half like a squad with little to lose. Missing the injured Lamine Yamal, they lost a chunk of their energy on the attack. Sure, they dominated possession, but breaking down Osasuna for real chances? That was tough.
Roony Bardghji, filling in for Yamal on the right, managed a decent long shot, but Osasuna’s keeper, Sergio Herrera, had no trouble stopping it. Honestly, Osasuna nearly shocked everyone before halftime. Ante Budimir battled through two defenders and poked the ball off the post.
Barcelona picked up the pace after the break. Dani Olmo should’ve scored from close range, but he fluffed it. Flick then rolled the dice from the bench, bringing on three subs, including Marcus Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, to take over the right flank.
Rashford almost made an immediate impact, curling a shot just over and injecting some much-needed speed. He set up the opener too, swinging in a perfect cross for Lewandowski, who lost his marker and buried his header. Torres, another sub, finished with precision to double the lead.
Still, it wasn’t comfortable. Garcia scored for Osasuna in stoppage time, left wide open in the box, forcing Barcelona to sweat out the last minutes. The Catalans dug in, clearing everything in sight as Osasuna pressed, but finally, they held on for their tenth league win in a row. Now, all they can do is wait.
