Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Marc-André ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres, Andreas Christensen, Eric García, Marc Bernal (out), Pau Cubarsí, Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo (doubt)
Real Sociedad Outs & Doubts: Hamari Traoré, Nayef Aguerd, Beñat Turrientes, Arsen Zakharyan, Ander Barrentxea, Pablo Marín (doubt)
Date/Time: Sunday, November 10, 2024, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Monday)
Following a comfortable and important win in the Champions League away to Red Star Belgrade in midweek, Barcelona return to action for their final game before the last international break of 2024 as the Catalans face another brutal away match, this time with a trip to the Basque Country to meet Real Sociedad at Anoeta on Sunday Night Fútbol.
Barça come into this one on the back of seven consecutive wins in all competitions that have firmly established Hansi Flick's side as the best in Europe beyond any doubt given the quality of their performances and the strenghth of their opponents. To go a perfect eight for eight in the last month and finish off that streak with a win at Anoeta would be a huge statement, and would continue to provide strong answers to any critics who might still find something to say about this Barça juggernaut.
But as every Barça fan knows, a trip to Anoeta is never easy and it's a guarantee of a very tough game. Even though the Blaugrana are unbeaten and have won all but one of their visits to the San Sebastián cauldron since breaking the infamous Anoeta Curse almost eight years ago, they have almost never found it easy to leave that stadium without a real test from a good team and a very hostile atmosphere created by one of the best crowds in the country.
La Real are not having the best of seasons and manager Imanol Alguacil is struggling to get the same excellence out of this specific group of players compared to previous years, but the most recent signs are encouraging as the league form is picking up and the attack is finally starting to live up to the expectation of the chances created by their very talented forwards.
This is a team that plays low-scoring games and always brings their best, most intense version for meetings against the big boys in Spain, and even if they're not at their best this season they still deserve a heck of a lot of respect, especially at home. Barça will need the same maturity and control in their play as they showed against Red Star, and must remain as clinical as they've been all season to score the necessary goals to once again leave hell alive.
Barcelona (4-3-3): Peña; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Casadó, De Jong, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Olmo
Real Sociedad (4-3-3): Remiro; Arumburu, Zubeldia, Pacheco, López; Turrientes, Zubimendi, Sucic; Kubo, Oyarzabal, Gómez
This is the worst La Real we've seen in a while, which makes them even more dangerous if Barça take them for granted. But I think the good guys will be ready for the battle, and will leave Anoeta with another good result: 3-1 Barça.