Real Sociedad and Barcelona will meet on Wednesday night in the first of two Supercopa de Espana matches. For the second straight season, the super cup will be a four-team affair with Real Sociedad, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid all taking part.
The Royal head into the game in poor form. Since the beginning of December, manager Imanol Alguacil has watched his team decline. They flirted with La Liga’s top spot but are now hoping to hang onto a top-six place.
Barcelona go into the game as one of La Liga’s most in-form teams. The Blaugrana are on a three-match winning streak in La Liga and are coming off of a 4-0 win versus Granada. Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann both scored at the weekend giving Ronald Koeman hope of mounting a title challenge.
Koeman has recently embraced Barcelona’s traditional 4-3-3 formation. It has seen an improvement in results. Koeman is likely to use the 4-3-3 formation once more with Messi pulling the strings. It has helped the club reel off eight matches without a loss.
Real Sociedad and Barcelona have met once this season already with the Blaugrana winning 2-1 at home. Jordi Alba and Frenkie de Jong scored before halftime to overturn a 1-0 goal deficit after 27 minutes, to win the match.
Koeman is without the services of Philippe Coutinho and Ansu Fati. The attacking duo is out of action until next month. Fati has been out since November time with a thigh muscle injury. Coutinho is nursing a knee injury.
Sergi Roberto could return to the team but Gerard Pique is unlikely to make it back for the fixture. He has been out for a number of games as the years have taken their toll on him.
Real Sociedad manager Imanol Alguacil is without star midfielder David Silva. The midfielder’s injuries started in November/December and Real Sociedad’s decline in form came with Silva struggling for fitness.
Alguacil could be without the likes of Aritz Elustondo, Jon Pacheco, Miguel Moya, and Luca Sangelli as well. Injuries have hit the Basque club hard, damaging their hopes of an unilkely title.
Expect Real Sociedad to go all-out for a win versus Barcelona. They have nothing to lose in the Supercopa de Espana. However, their current goal scoring issues should plague them once more versus Barcelona.
Real Sociedad have scored just six goals in their last six league matches. Four of those six matches ended in losses. Barcelona have scored 14 times while allowing five goals to opponents in their last six games.
Barcelona should tally a win in a low-scoring game and move on to face Real Madrid or Athletic Bilbao.