Five talking points from Barcelona’s win over Real Sociedad

Second-half changes turned the game around for Barcelona

With Barcelona unable to threaten Real Sociedad’s defense, Xavi made a couple of changes in the second-half. He took off Torres and Balde in place of Ansu Fati and Raphinha. Those two substitutions proved to be the difference.

Two minutes in, Fati delivered a nice heel flick to an oncoming Dembele who crossed his shot to the back post to give Barcelona the lead. Shortly thereafter, he once again was involved in the second goal for Lewandowski.

In a span of about 10 minutes, Fati was involved in not only giving the Catalans the lead, but giving them some breathing room as well. He capped off a superb substitution appearance as he scored Barça’s fourth goal with Lewandowski providing a back-heel flick of his own.

Perhaps forgotten somewhat given Fati’s heroics, but Raphinha also gave Barcelona a spark down the right and had a part to play in the fourth goal.

Fati’s performance unsurprisingly brought the question of why Xavi didn’t start him in the first place. Injuries have been a thorn in Fati’s side and one can assume Xavi is trying to progress him along slowly. His influence in the game, however, could force the manager’s hand.

“It depends on the game, how the opposition play, the level of risk required, on many things,” Xavi said. “Today we made attacking changes, bringing on Raphinha and Ansu for Balde and Ferran [Torres].

“We were basically playing with five or six forwards. It is all about risks and how many you need to take.”

Barcelona were less than stellar in the opening half but Xavi eventually corrected things in the second. Whether the struggles were of his own doing is a separate question. The point is he was able to see the mistakes and correct them.

Pedri impressed and Ter Stegen looked like his old self

Amidst the chaos during the first half, one calming presence in the Barcelona midfield was Pedri.

The 19-year-old was able to spread the ball and was the one who started the counterattack that led to Lewandowski’s opener.

Whenever he had the ball, he knew what he wanted to do with it, and he dropped deep at times to play out from the back. Even with De Jong, or Busquets, in the lineup, Pedri always seems to stand out. He did so against a well-disciplined side like Real Sociedad.

Another player who played a key role in the win was Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The often criticized keeper seemed to be back at his best as he made a couple of outstanding saves to keep the game tied. Perhaps none better than the one on David Silva where he managed to get a hand to it and keep it from going into the back of the net.

If Barcelona aspire to winning LaLiga and making a deep run in the Champions League, they need Ter Stegen to revert back to the form he displayed when he first arrived from Germany. Against Real Sociedad, he certainly showed flashes of his best self.