Harry Truman was the U.S. president. People were dancing to a song called “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley. Disney’s animated film “Cinderella” was the highest-grossing movie.
The year was 1950, a long, long time ago in a soccer galaxy far, far away. It was also the last time Barcelona scored as many as 54 goals in their first 16 games of the season — until now.
That’s right. Barca have found the back of the net 55 times so far in 2024, breaking their 74-year-old mark. Many La Liga watchers expected the Blaugrana to start slowly this season as new coach Hansi Flick became acclimated and the squad dealt with injuries to Uruguayan defender Ronald Araújo, Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong and Spanish midfielders Pedri and Gavi.
But Barca have silenced all the doubters. They have won 11 of their first 12 La Liga matches and sit atop the table, nine points clear of eternal rivals Real Madrid. They’re also the top-scoring team among all of Europe’s major leagues.
The ageless Polish Cannon, Robert Lewandowski (36), has scored 14 goals in 12 matches. Left winger Raphinia has seven, and wunderkind Lamine Yamal has five. Keep in mind Barcelona have become a scoring machine mainly without the services of Dani Olmo.
The $65-million signing from RB Leipzig missed a month with an injury. What did Olmo do upon his return to the starting XI on Nov. 3? He scored twice, of course, as the Blaugrana crushed Espanyol 3-1 in the Catalan Derby.
Barcelona travel to the Basque Country on Sunday (viewing details below) to face Real Sociedad in a clear clash of styles.
La Real has built a fortress this season. They’ve conceded just 0.8 goals per game, third-best in La Liga. In the table, they are tied for 11th place with 15 points. In their last match against Sevilla, Real Sociedad shut down the Rojiblanco in the first half, allowing only two shots and an xG of 0.10 as they cruised to a 2-0 victory.
On La Real’s backline, right-back Jon Aramburu and center-backs Igor Zubeldia and Nayef Aguerd are enjoying outstanding campaigns so far. Aguerd seems ecstatic to be on loan from West Ham and far away from that chaotic club. Left-back Javi Lopez is being pushed for playing time by Sergio Gomez, who has an average SofaScore rating of 7.4 across his last five matches.
For La Real, midfielders Pablo Marin and Arsen Zakharyan, as well as defender Hamari Traore, will be unavailable.
Real Sociedad predicted lineup: Remiro, Aramburu, Zubeldia, Aguerd, Gomez, Zubimendi, Kubo, Mendez, Sucic, Becker, Oyarzabal
Another of Barcelona’s talented youngsters, 17-year old center-back Pau Cubarsi, was kicked in the face during the club’s Champions League victory on Nov. 6. It’s one of the worst-looking injuries in recent memory. He’s questionable for Sunday.
Barcelona predicted lineup: Pena, Kounde, Dominguez, Martinez, Balde, de Jong, Casado, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Raphinha, Lewandowski
Predicted score: Barcelona 2, Real Sociedad 0
Kickoff time is 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 10. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.
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