Barcelona vs. Real Sociedad 8/15/21 LaLiga Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Barcelona is welcoming Real Sociedad to Camp Nou in round 1 of the Spanish LaLiga. Barcelona is still in shock after losing Messi, but they have had a great preseason, and not it’s time to focus on LaLiga. Real Sociedad will be playing in the Europa League this season, but they have also had a decent preseason, and they are looking pretty well on both ends.

As I’ve mentioned, Barcelona has lost Messi because they had no money to sign him, and that was a shock for the entire soccer world. Barcelona is now clearly in a rebuild mode, but they are still a team stacked with stars and great players who will be competitive both in LaLiga and the Champions League. Barcelona has signed some great players in the offseason starting with Depay from Lyon, Emerson from Betis, and Aguero and Garcia from Manchester City. Firpo, Todibo, Alena, Miranda, Fernandes, and Trinco all left the club. Barcelona has won Copa del Rey last season, but their goal this season is to get the LaLiga title back, and possibly win the Champions League, which would be a lot easier with Messi. It will be weird seeing Barcelona without Messi this season, and they will need to find someone to match his input on goals and assists, at least partially.

Real Sociedad ended last season in 5^th place with 62 points, and they were solid on both ends. Sociedad has scored 59 goals while conceding 38 goals in 38 games. Sociedad has qualified for the Europa League this season, and they will be one of the teams to watch in that competition. There haven’t been any notable transfers in Sociedad as of right now. Fernandez is now the only injured player for Real Sociedad. There are many great players in this team starting with Isak at the top, David Silva, Oyarzabal, Januzaj, and Illarramendi in the midfield, and Monreal on the defensive end. Sociedad can play great soccer with a lot of possession and a lot of created chances, but they tend to get sloppy sometimes and it cost them a Champions League spot for this season. Sociedad has scored a ton of goals in the preseason, but they have also conceded quite a few, but this is their first official game, and a lot could change because of that.

I have a feeling this will be a fantastic match to watch. Real Sociedad hasn’t won in their last 4 games against Barcelona, but they are in solid form, and I think they will score at least 1 goal here. I know Barcelona is in shock, but there is no better way to relieve that shock than to win this game.