Real Sociedad – Barcelona, Picks and Tips
After their worst week under Xavi Hernandez, the Catalans are looking for revenge in the difficult trip to San Sebastian. Real Sociedad vs Barcelona is the most exciting match of the La Liga intermediate stage and we expect total spectacle in the clash in the Basque Country. Barcelona missed out on qualification to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals after an unexpected defeat against Frankfurt at the Camp Nou (2-3). Then, another shock: defeat vs Cadiz in the Primera Division (0-1), and the Catalans were unable to take advantage of Real Madrid's win at Sevilla. The Blaugrana are hoping for second place at the end of the season. It all has to start with a win against Sociedad, a club that has long been in the UEFA Champions League places.
Real Sociedad are unbeaten in their previous five Primera Division matches, with Los Txuri-Urdin winning their games against Alaves (1-0), Espanyol (1-0) and Elche (2-1). The draws came in duels against clubs from Sevilla, namely Sevilla FC and Real Betis (each time 0-0). The duel against "Los Verdiblancos" was the most recent one played in the weekend round. After 32 LaLiga rounds, Imanol Alguacil's side are in 6th place. The distance to the Champions League places is five "lengths". Sociedad exited European competition after losing to Leipzig (3-5 on aggregate) in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.Xavi Hernandez's boys are coming off two consecutive defeats in all competitions. First, they were totally unexpectedly eliminated from the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, after a 2-3 second-leg defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt. Then on Monday night the shock happened in LaLiga. Barcelona was defeated, again at the Camp Nou, by Cadiz (0-1), a team involved in the fight to avoid relegation. Previously, the Catalans had won straight away in the Spanish league, including duels against Real Madrid (4-0) and Sevilla (1-0). At the end of 32 rounds of the current season, Barcelona are in second place, 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid. Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are level on points with Xavi's side. But the guests in the Real Sociedad-Barcelona duel have one game in hand on all the other teams in the top four.
Our recommendation tip for Real Sociedad – Barcelona: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE @ 1.70