Barça have not had their night and have fallen against Real Sociedad, adding their second defeat in this league. They have done so by the narrowest of margins, conceding a single goal at Anoeta, and seeing a completely legal goal from Lewandowski wrongly disallowed. Controversy aside, in this defeat there's a player who has been singled out and whose future seems to be in doubt: Frenkie de Jong.
Frenkie de Jong has been given his second start of the season and the reality is that his performance has been very poor. 45 minutes of play, in which he has touched the ball 32 times and lost it on 6 occasions. He hasn't performed as expected and patience has run out, to the point that he has been singled out for being substituted at half-time.
At Barça they are clear: if a good offer for Frenkie de Jong comes, he will leave. Laporta has spoken about it on more than one occasion with Flick, and the truth is that the German coach has given his approval. He likes him as a player, but for one reason or another, he never responds as expected. Against Real Sociedad, a new example of a very weak game from the Dutchman.
In 45 minutes, in addition to losing the ball on multiple occasions, Frenkie de Jong has shown new physical problems. He is not getting his act together and Barça have lost patience, they are fed up. First of all, Flick, who was hoping to have him fully fit to be able to play normally and rotate in the midfield.
Frenkie de Jong's problem is clear. Beyond his dubious physical condition, he is a player who is not adapting to the style that Flick is implementing. The German wants quick passes, fast ball movement... But the Dutchman needs to touch it several times before giving it back, and his endless dribbling drives even his teammates mad.
Real Sociedad Reopens LaLiga
This defeat at Anoeta comes at the worst possible time: before another international break. Barça didn't look good against Real Sociedad in a match that was decided by the narrowest of margins... thanks to a goal from Sheraldo Becker.
13 LaLiga games later, Barça has 33 points, with eleven wins and two defeats. In second place is Madrid, who, with one game less, have 27 points.
It seems that the indication from LaLiga has been clear at all times: Barça couldn't beat Real Sociedad. This is made clear by the goal unfairly disallowed for Robert Lewandowski, who had opened the scoring and put the Catalans ahead in the first minutes of the match. The subsequent added time of just 4 minutes confirms it: it will not be easy to win this competition.