Barcelona will continue to chase the top spot when they face Real Sociedad in an away fixture. The Catalans have played an extra match than their rivals Real Madrid but still trail them by one point and are currently in second place. Barca were dealt with a blow after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld their 2015 transfer ban which means that the club is in for a quiet January transfer window.
However luckily for the club Luis Enrique has an almost fully fit squad to his expense with the exception of defender Thomas Vermaelen who is still sidelined with injury. Their attacking duo of Lionel Messi and Neymar has been very impressive having scored 26 league goals between them this season, whereas star signing Luis Suarez has only scored once in La Liga since joining Barca in the summer and will be hoping to create a better impression.
Last time the two sides met Sociedad beat Barcelona by a 3-1 score line with Antoine Griezmann and David Zurutuza getting on the score sheet. Real Sociedad have enjoyed a good run at home against their counterparts on Sunday with Barcelona's last victory at the Anoeta coming in May 2007. The Royals have performed reasonably well under former Manchester United manager David Moyes having lost just once in seven matches in all competitions. However they have won only twice in this period and will be hoping to pull off an upset at the expense of Barcelona.
David Moyes has hailed Barcelona as being one of the best sides in the world but has also insisted that his side is more than capable of beating them.
"We respect Barcelona because they are very good," he said. "They have been the best in the world over the past 10 years in possession of the ball.
"Collectively, they are very dangerous, and individually, any player can win a match on their own.
"But they are coming to San Sebastian and we need to show them again hat it’s not an easy place to come to and win."
Former Arsenal striker Carlos Vela will return to the side after missing the club's last two games. The Mexican international has scored six of Sociedad's 17 league goals this season and will be hoping to create an impression on Sunday. Meanwhile the away side will be looking for the mercurial Lionel Messi to produce the goods again with the Argentinean having scored in the last five matches between the two sides.
Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona team sheets
Real Sociedad starting XI: Rulli; C.Martínez, Antosegi, I.Martinez, De La Bella; Granero, Bergara, X.Prieto, Canales, Castro; Vela
Barcelona starting XI: Bravo; Montoya, Mascherano, Mathieu, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Munir, Suarez, Pedro
Barcelona bench: Ter Stegen, Messi, Neymar, Piqué, Alves, Rakitic, Rafinha
Spieldetails, Ergebnis und ursprüngliche Sendungsinfo
Real Sociedad 1 - 0 Barcelona
Januar 4, 2015 3:00Estadio Municipal de Anoeta (Donostia-San Sebastián)Dieses Spiel ist zu Ende. Unten werden die originalen Live-Bilder dieses Spiels angezeigt.
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