La Real Sociedad finished the 2017-2018 season with a slight defeat. La Real got off to a good start and had chances to score in a couple of occasions but FC Barcelona were on fire. The game was more of a celebration for Xabi Prieto who played the final match of his career and Andrés Iniesta, who played his final match in Barcelona. Two legends said goodbye to their teams on the same match.
From the beginning, la Real were in the game and had at least three chances to get the opening goal. Willian José and Adnan Januzaj made Ter Stegen work. Little by little, Barça imposed their game but didn’t create danger. In the 25th minute, Rakitic almost put Barça ahead but his header went wide. Then, Mikel Oyarzabal shot wide when placed inside the box. Before the break, Juanmi was ruled offside and there were no real clear cut chances.
It was not a strong start to the second. However, in the 57th minute, Coutinho showed the top player he is when he fired the ball into the back of the net. There was nothing Moyá could do. The txuri-urdin players didn’t accept the defeat at the Camp Nou and gave their all to even the score but without any luck. The match ended with Xabi coming in to play his final minutes in the txuri-urdin shirt.
Today’s match was the end of an era but also the beginning of a new one. New generations were there to see the final minutes of a model for us all. The final minutes of Xabier Prieto Argarate.
Match Sheet:
FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Piqué, Yerry Mina, Jordi Alba, Sergio, I. Rakitic, A. Iniesta (cap.) (Paco Alcácer, min. 81), O. Dembélé (Denis Suárez, min. 53), Coutinho (Messi, min. 67), Suárez.
Real Sociedad: Moyá, Aritz (Odriozola, min. 71), Llorente R., Raúl Navas, De la Bella, Illara (cap.), Zurutuza (X. Prieto, min. 89), Januzaj (Canales, min. 63), Juanmi, Oyarzabal, Willian J.
Goal: 1-0: Coutinho, min. 57.
Referee: Munuera Montero. Cautioned Suárez, Jordi Alba and I. Rakitic for Barcelona and Raúl Navas and Januzaj for Real Sociedad.
