A header from Clement Lenglet and a Jordi Alba strike just after Juanmi had equalised for the visitors, meant the home side took the three points in a 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad at Camp Nou. They could be champions as early as Wednesday.
A far from impressive Barcelona went one step closer to clinching the La Liga title this Saturday with a 2-1 win over mid-table Real Sociedad. Lenglet scored right on half-time for the home side and Jordi Alba restored Barca's lead in the 64th minute two minutes after Juanmi had stunned the home crowd. If Barcelona win at Alaves on Tuesday and Atletico Madrid lose at home to Valencia on Wednesday, Ernesto Valverde's side will be officially champions. Just six points separate them from the league trophy.
The first half-hour on a slightly rainy evening was very uneventful and unsurprisingly, it remained goalless. The ball was mainly in the middle of the pitch and the goalies were not called into action. The only thing of note in that time was a Messi free-kick from just outside the box which just hit the top of the net instead of the back of it. However, after half an hour, the game sprung into life.
In the 31st minute, Messi left Merino for dead and then attempted a one-two with Luis Suarez which Sociedad goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli read. He slid at Messi's feet before the Argentine could control the ball. It was not long though because Sociedad had a fantastic double chance. Pardo put in a beautiful pass for Juanmi, who chested down before forcing Ter Stegen into a super save. The rebound fell to Willian Jose who could only fire over.
That was a brief respite for the Basques who saw Messi hit at Rulli three minutes later in the 38th minute. Shortly afterwards, Rulli made an unbelievable save to deny Luis Suarez. It was a team move which saw Messi zig-zag inside the box, he bamboozled the defence before passing to Arthur, he then found Suarez at the far post who tried to beat the goalie at the near stick. Rulli was up to the task though and he dived down to his right to prevent the deadlock from being broken.
With almost the last kick of the first half, Barca went in front. Ousmane Dembele delivered a great corner and Clement Lenglet headed in at the near post to leave the Sociedad shot stopper with no chance. Barcelona had shown signs of improvement in the final quarter of an hour and the away side were unable to hold on.
After the interval, Real Sociedad picked up and Oyarzabal headed wide a Willian Jose ball in the opening exchanges. Willian Jose then headed over a Pardo cross and the first 10 minutes were frenetic. Barca then went up the other end after good combination play between Dembele and Arturo Vidal, but the former was unable to give the ball back to Vidal, much to the Chilean's disgust. Sociedad were not finished though and Ruben Pardo hit a powerful 30 yard strike which took a nick off Semedo and forced Ter Stegen into a good save.
Imanol Alguacil's team suffered a blow in the 54th minute when Zubeldia overstretched and had to be replaced by Luca Sangalli. Within seconds, he cleared the crossbar after the ball broke to him from a half cleared corner. Dembele nearly made it 2-0 after good build up play from Messi and Vidal saw Dembele almost beat Rulli at the far corner. Barca were fairly comfortable, but Real Sociedad levelled the scores in the 62nd minute.
They had a throw in on the far side, Oyarzabal received and went into the box before cutting back for Mikel Merino. The ex-Dortmund man then played a splendid through ball for Juanmi who slid in to toe poke the ball past the diving Barca keeper. Barca quickly shook off the setback though. Messi passed to Jordi Alba and then the Catalan fires into the far corner. The goalkeeper dived, but was unable to reach it. The VAR checked the goal as Dembele may have been obstructing Rulli's view, but he semed to be out of the way of the ball.
Suarez had the ball in the back of the net a few minutes later after being played through. The away players stopped after seeing the flag up, but the referee allowed the play to run out so that VAR could check offside if Suarez finished. It was just offside and Sociedad were let off after a schoolboy error. Coutinho received some boos from the home faithful when he came on after his celebration in midweek when he puts his hands to his ears and insulted them under his breath.
After Alba's goal, Real Sociedad showed very little going forward. Sangalli had a very ambitious long range effort 15 minutes from time, but it was never going to trouble the goalkeeper. Rakitic actually came the closest in the 79th minute after a super run by Suarez. The Croatian found the side netting when squaring for a teammate woudl have been a better option. Sociedad threw bodies forward in the last 10, but they never looked like scoring and Barca, who were far from their best, held on for a comfortable 2-1 win. Barca now need just two wins from their last five matches to win La Liga.