Barcelona extended their unbeaten run in La Liga to 18 consecutive matches with a 6-1 thrashing of Real Sociedad on Sunday. Sergino Dest and Lionel Messi both scored two goals each while Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele also struck their names on the scoresheet at Anoeta Stadium.
Griezmann gave Barcelona the lead against his old team in the 36th minute before Dest doubled thanks to a pass from Messi, two minutes before the half-time. After the restart, Dest was at it again, finding the back of the net in the 53rd minute before Messi got in his first goal of the contest.
Ander Barrenetxea pulled one back from the hosts in the 77th minute but Messi resorted the five-goal advantage a minute before the full-time capping off a memorable night that saw him breaking the most appearances record for Barcelona. It was the Argentine’s 768th game for the Catalan giants, one more than club legend and former teammate Xavi Hernandez.
The win keeps Barcelona breathing down the neck of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid with the two teams separated by just four points now. Real Madrid complete the top-three trailing Barcelona by two points.
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman was a happy man, leaving special praise for Messi. “It’s always important for players other than Leo to score goals. That way it’s much harder to defend against us,” Koeman said after the match. “Every game from now on for us, Atletico and Real will be difficult. It’s going to be very exciting until the end of the season and we just have to keep on playing as we are.”
Frenchman Griezmann acknowledged Real Sociedad have always been a tough nut to crack. “This is a difficult place to come, Barca always used to struggle here but we came flying out of the blocks,” said Griezmann. “We worked very hard, we won the ball lots of times deep in their half and reacted well every time we lost it. It was a great Barcelona performance.”