Overview
Real Sociedad closed last season in 11th place in La Liga, so the 2025-2026 season is expected to be a clear step forward for the Basque team. However, La Real continues to show instability when they have only won 21 points after 19 rounds and are still standing in the mid-table area.
Under new coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, Sociedad had a positive start with a 3-match unbeaten streak, including two wins and one draw, partly bringing optimistic signals for the road ahead.
They have just earned 4 points in the last 2 La Liga rounds, drawing with Atletico Madrid at home before defeating Getafe away. Sociedad then continued to overcome Osasuna in a penalty shootout to win a ticket to the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
However, Real Sociedad's home form this season is extremely worrying. They only earned 11 points after 9 matches at Reale Arena, with only 3 wins - one of the worst home records in the league.
In recent encounters, La Real has also been clearly inferior when losing 4 out of 5 encounters with Barcelona in La Liga, despite having won 1-0 in the second leg last season.
Barcelona entered the match with extremely impressive form. Hansi Flick's team has won all 11 recent matches in all competitions, including the victory against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final.
In the middle of last week, the Catalan team continued to show stability when they defeated Racing Santander 2-0 to win the right to enter the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Barcelona has not played in La Liga since the 2-0 victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby on January 3, but they are still firmly at the top of the table with a 4-point gap from Real Madrid.
Since the El Clasico at the Bernabeu in late October last year, Barca has won all 9 consecutive rounds in the domestic league. Although the defense has sometimes revealed gaps, Flick's team still shows enough bravery and depth to become the number one candidate for the championship.
After the away match at San Sebastian, Barcelona will travel to Slavia Prague stadium in the Champions League. This is a tournament where they still have a lot of work to do when they are currently only 15th in the overall standings, 2 points behind the group that won direct tickets.
Personnel situation
Real Sociedad will be without Inaki Ruperez due to injuries sustained in last weekend's match. Besides, Yangel Herrera and Orri Oskarsson are also likely to be absent because they have not recovered in time.
After a positive performance against Getafe in La Liga, Pellegrino Matarazzo is expected to maintain most of the starting lineup. Brais Mendez can continue to be trusted to play highest in the attack.
Mikel Oyarzabal is still the biggest hope on the home team's attacking front. The Spanish striker has contributed 5 goals and 3 assists in the 2025-2026 season and continues to hold the leadership role of La Real.
In the opposite direction, Barcelona is only missing Gavi and Andreas Christensen due to knee injuries. In addition to these two cases, Hansi Flick's squad is in very good physical condition.
Compared to the victory over Racing Santander in the Copa del Rey, Barca is expected to have many adjustments as key players such as Fermin Lopez, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Eric Garcia and Raphinha are likely to return to the starting lineup.
Expected lineup:
Real Sociedad: Remiro, Aramburu, Caleta-Car, Martin, Gomez, Soler, Turrientes, Kubo, Mendez, Guedes, Oyarzabal.
J. Garcia, Kounde, Cubarsi, E. Garcia, Balde, Pedri, De Jong, Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha, F. Torres.
The match between Real Sociedad and Barcelona takes place at 3:00 AM on January 19 (Vietnam time).
