Copa Del Rey 2016/17: Real Sociedad 0-1 FC Barcelona - 5 Talking Points
Barcelona virtually booked their place in the semifinals of the Copa Del Rey after 1-0 away win over Real Sociedad. Anoeta has been a nightmare ground for the Catalans in recent years but they finally broke the curse and emerged victorious, thanks to a calmly slotted penalty by Neymar. It was an exciting game for the neutrals as both sides attacked with intent and had a number of chances to get their name on the score sheet.
The Blaugrana, one can say are on their way to challenge for their third consecutive Copa Del Rey crown whereas La Real have a daunting task at their end to overturn the deficit at Camp Nou. Sociedad, in fact, will have to be at their best if they want to reach their first final since 1988.
A hard earned victory was achieved by the Catalans at Anoeta so let's take a look at the five talking points from the game:
#1 The curse finally ends
One has to go back to March 2007 in order to track Barcelona's last win at the Anoeta. That team won 2-0 on that night but since then, La Real’s home ground has proved to be a tricky fixture each season for the reigning Spanish champions. Luis Enrique won his first game against Sociedad last night as his previous three attempts at the Anoeta have failed to see him get all three points.
Enrique has lost two games 0-1 here and drew 1-1 when the two sides met here in November. Lionel Messi has also struggled at this venue with the resolute Sociedad defence breaking his run of scoring in seven consecutive games. It was the Argentine's best run since 2013.