Everyone wondered how Barca would react after the painful 2-0 defeat away to arch-rivals Real Madrid last week, with Martin Braithwaite earning his first start as a Barcelona player.
10 minutes into the match, Braithwaite tested Remiro in the Real Sociedad goals, but the Basque outfit's keeper saved with his feet. Braithwaite then had another chance 5 minutes later, but again Remiro matched the effort.
There wasn't too much between the two, with Messi threatening with a couple of shots. The most noteworthy thing being Messi picking up his 3rd booking in a week for a foul on Merino. Both teams went in at the break at 0-0.
The 2nd half started just how the 1st half ended with a few half chances. On the hour mark, Messi probably should have done better when the ball broke to him from about 6 yards out, but he fired over the bar. Remiro then made saves from Rakitic and Piqué to keep Barca at bay.
Just as it looked like Real Sociedad would pick up a very valuable point on the road, they gave away a penalty. The referee initially didn't blow after the ball hit Le Normand's hand, but after checking the VAR monitor he signalled for a penalty to give Barca a chance to save their blushes.
Messi then stopped up and sent it into the bottom left corner to get his 24th goal of the season.
Barca were then denied by VAR after a brilliant team move saw Messi pick out Fati with a beautiful pass, with the youngster squaring for Alba to tap in. The referee then chopped the goal off, but Barca go top, for 24 hours at least.
March 7, 2020