Soccer
Barcelona dismantled 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 on Sunday to return to the top of LaLiga in style.
Hansi Flick’s team moved back above Atletico Madrid thanks to a seventh straight league victory, and one they claimed without facing one shot.
La Real finished with zero attempts and 0.00 expected goals – they were reduced to 10 men when Aritz Elustondo was sent off for fouling Dani Olmo in the 17th minute.
Gerard Martin swiftly made Barca’s numerical advantage count, and the home team doubled their lead through Marc Casado four minutes later.
Ronald Araujo nodded in his first LaLiga goal of the season to make it 3-0 in the second half, before the defender turned provider as Robert Lewandowski got in on the act with a close-range finish.
With top spot in LaLiga secure for another week, Barca’s attention will now turn to Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Benfica.
34 – Robert Lewandowski has scored 34 goals in 37 games this season in all competitions, more than any player from the top five European leagues and more than in any other campaign for Barcelona (33 in 2022/23). Inexhaustible. pic.twitter.com/D7TtBwKB2V
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 2, 2025
Data Debrief: Running riot
Barca, who registered 2.92 xG, have now scored 124 goals in 40 games this season in all competitions, the most by a LaLiga side after their first 40 games of a campaign since Real Madrid in 1959-60 (132 goals).
They are spearheaded by the evergreen Lewandowski, who has netted 34 times in 37 games this term, more than any player from the top five European leagues.
Araujo, meanwhile, both scored and assisted in the same game for Barca for the first time in his career.
But equally as pleasing to Flick will be how Barca kept La Real to so little. The visitors had just one touch in the opposition box and became the first team in LaLiga this season to fail to register at least one shot in a match.
Read MoreSoccerNews