Barcelona v Real Sociedad Live Commentary & Result, 2023/01/25, Copa del Rey

That's all for today, goodbye.

Next up, Barcelona travel to Girona in LaLiga with Sociedad going to Real Madrid.

Dembele scored the only goal of the game as Barcelona beat 10-man Sociedad to progress to the semi-final of the Copa del Rey. Dominant before the break, De Jong and Dembele missed chances before the away side were reduced to 10 men. After a high tackle on Busquets, Mendez’s yellow card was upgraded to a red after VAR check. Pushing for the opener, Barcelona broke the deadlock through Dembele. Getting on the end of a pass down the right flank from Kounde, the winger drove inside before lashing a low shot inside the near post. Sorloth then missed the target from a couple of yards with a golden opportunity before Gavi hit the bar up the other end. Sociedad then went close to scoring just before the final whistle. Navarro was denied by Ter Stegen after being one-on-one with the goalkeeper, with the German then pushing away a powerful effort from Olasagasti.

90' + 4' FULL-TIME: BARCELONA 1-0 REAL SOCIEDAD

90' + 3' BIG SAVE! Navarro's inswinging corner is cleared as far as Olasagasti who rockets the ball towards the goal. Going through a number of players, Ter Stegen dives to the right to push it away.

Marcos Alonso

A. Christensen

90' + 1' Barcelona make another change to try and slow the game down. Two former Chelsea players are switched with Christensen coming off for Alonso.

88' SAVED! Off the bench, Fernandez almost made an immediate impact. Ter Stegen plays the ball straight to Zubimendi who feeds it to Navarro. One-on-one, he strikes his effort straight at the goalkeeper with Fernandez hitting the side of the net with the rebound.

Carlos Fernández

A. Sørloth

87' Sorloth is replaced by Fernandez. The former Crystal Palace striker had a huge chance to score the equaliser earlier in the game but missed the target from close range.

86' Busquets curls an inviting head over the head of Sorloth towards Fati who rushes onto it. Matching his run, a Barrenetxea heads it behind.

84' Inside the box, Lewandowski heads the ball down to De Jong who chips it across to Raphinha. Free on the right, the substitute completely misses the ball attempting a volley.

Ansu Fati

O. Dembélé

84' With a goal to his name, Dembele is now off the pitch. Fati is on and will play on the left wing with Raphinha on the right.

83' Barcelona are in control, but having scored just once, Sociedad are still in the game.

81' Dembele's inswinging cross from the right goes straight into the gloves of Remiro.

Raphinha

Alejandro Balde

78' A second change for Barcelona. Balde is given a rest with Raphinha coming on. Araujo is now at left-back with Busquets moving to centre-back.

Robert Navarro

T. Kubo

78' Kubo has been Sociedad's best player, but is now coming off. Navarro will look to make the difference in the final 12 minutes.

Jon Ander Olasagasti

Pablo Marín

78' Sociedad are now making two substitutions. Olasagasti replaces Marin.

F. Kessié

Pedri

77' Xavi makes his first change of the game. Kessie comes on in the midfield to replace Pedri.

77' Dembele has been electic. This time cutting inside from the right, he dribbles past Normand before shooting low. Dipping in front of the goalkeeper, Remiro does well to collect the ball.

75' On the left, Balde sets the ball back to Lewandowski who drifts wide. The striker moves it onto his right foot before curing a cross towards De Jong, but it is cleared away before it gets to the Dutchman.

73' Christensen chips the ball from left to right looking for Pedri in the box. Trying to head it across to De Jong, Normand gets a head on it first, hitting the ball against the midfielder before hacking it clear.

70' On the counter, Sorloth moves through the middle third of the pitch before looking for Barrenetxea with a throughball. However, Araujo and Kounde get across to block his path and come away with the ball.

68' BAR! Barcelona hit the same bar that Sociedad did before half-time. Dembele darts past Munoz before sending a low cross towards Gavi. In the middle of the box, his effort crashes against the bar. Moments later, Lewandowski strikes his effort over from outside the box.

Martín Zubimendi

Yellow Card

66' Zubimendi is protesting his innocence but receives a yellow card. Gavi gets past the midfielder, with the Sociedad man pulling his shirt to stop him from progressing.

64' Gavi rushes into the box, playing a quick one-two with De Jong to get away from his maker. Looking to shoot, the midfielder is bundled to the floor by Barrenetxea. He wants a penalty, but the referee allows the game to continue.

62' Barcelona have had 76.4 per cent possession over the opening 17 minutes of the second half. It is to be expected, especially with Sociedad down to 10 men.

60' HOW HAS HE MISSED? Sorloth should have levelled the score. Kubo does brilliantly down the left, pulling the ball across the box and looking for the striker. Onside, Sorloth gets ahead of Balde but puts his effort over from a couple of yards out.

Pedri

Yellow Card

59' Pedri is now in the book after pulling Kubo's shirt with the Sociedad man breaking forward with pace.

57' On the edge of the box, Kubo curls his free-kick against the wall.

Sergio Busquets

Yellow Card

56' Busquets receives Barcelona's first yellow card of the game after committing a tactical foul on Barrenetxea.

54' Barcelona have scored in their last 26 Copa Del Rey (Round of 32 onwards) home games. It was only a matter of time before they broke the deadlock.

J. Koundé

Assist

52' Moments after missing a golden opportunity, Kounde gets an assist to his name. He looks up and picks out the run of Dembele who is onside. Taking a good first touch, he drives inside before fooling the goalkeeper with a low shot towards the near post.

O. Dembélé

Goal

52' GOAALLLL! DEMBELE SCORES! 1-0 BARCELONA! The home side have a deserved lead. On the right, Kounde curls a low pass down the flank to the midfielder. Rushing forward into the box, he powers an effort towards the near post with the goalkeeper diving the other way. He gets a touch on the shot but cannot push it away.

51' CHANCE! A free-kick is played short to De Jong who chips it towards Araujo on the left side of the box. He heads it back across to Kounde, but the defender gets his shot all wrong and it rolls to the goalkeeper.

48' Gavi is rolling around on the floor with players surrounding the referee. Elustondo pushed the midfielder after a coming together.

46' The game is back under way for the second half. Who will progress to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey?

Barrenetxea

Mikel Oyarzabal

46' The second Sociedad substitution comes in the attack. Quiet in the first half, Oyarzabal is replaced by Barrenetxea.

Aihen Muñoz

Diego Rico

46' Sociedad have made a couple of changes at half-time. Firstly, left-back Rico is replaced by Munoz.

Barcelona have been excellent so far. Nullifying the Sociedad attack, they have dominated and will be disappointed that they have not scored with an xG of 1.61. Dembele has been their best player, picking the ball up from deep positions and running at the opposition's defence. As for Sociedad, their best hope may be putting everyone behind the ball. They struggled to break forward with 11 men on the pitch, with the red card making it much more difficult to get in advanced positions. For their lack of potency going forward, they have stopped Barcelona from creating high-quality chances, with most of their shots coming from outside the box.

Barcelona dominated the first 45 minutes against 10-man Sociedad. Lewandowski had the ball in the net early on, but the goal was disallowed after hitting De Jong who was in an offside position. Dembele then had a chance, dribbling the length of the pitch before curling an effort wide. Defending for most of the first half, Sociedad almost scored with their only shot of the game. Inside the box, Kudo crashed the bar. Trying to find a way back into the game, Sociedad were then reduced to 10 men. After receiving a yellow card for a high challenge on Busquets, Mendez was then shown a red after a lengthy VAR check.

45' + 3' HALF-TIME: BARCELONA 0-0 REAL SOCIEDAD

45' + 2' Sociedad are trying to hold on until half-time. They have nine players behind the ball with Sorloth isolated in the attack.

45' There will be three minutes of additional time.

44' WIDE! Kounde bends the ball wide of the post. He receives a pass from Dembele, shifting it past a Sociedad defender. With options in the middle, the defender goes alone, slipping and curling his strike wide.

43' De Jong plays the ball inside to Lewandowski who flicks it to Pedri. Running beyond the Sociedad defence and into the box, his low shot is saved. The flag goes up for offside, but it was tight.

Brais Méndez

Red Card

40' RED CARD! After checking the monitor, Mendez is sent off after a high tackle on Busquets. He stood on the ankle of the Barcelona man after going late into a challenge.

38' POSSIBLE RED CARD! Mendez is the first player to go into the book. He is punished for standing on the leg of Busquets who goes down in a heap. The Sociedad man reacted after Busquets went sliding into Kubo unpunished. VAR will check for a possible red card for Mendez.

36' Busquets has attempted four tackles in this game, more than any other player on either team (ahead of Zubimendi - three tackles).

33' Mendez goes to ground. He thinks that Lewandowski should be punished after his hand hit his face but the referee allows the game to continue.

32' With nobody pressing him, Pedri unleashes a shot from outside the box. Bouncing just in front of him, Remiro collects his effort.

30' BAR! Sociedad crash the bar with their first shot of the game. Marin finds Kubo with a smart reverse pass down the left side of the box. From a tight angle, his powerful effort goes past the goalkeeper before crashing off the woodwork.

28' On the edge of the box, Dembele looks to play a throughball to Lewandowski who runs behind the Sociedad defence. Stretching for it, Rico gets a touch on his pass and sends it back to the goalkeeper.

26' Marin jumps into Busquets and gives away a free-kick just outside the box. Looking for Araujo, Pedri's cross goes over the head of the defender and is cleared away by Marin who will be thankful that nothing came of the chance.

24' Lewandowski is back on the pitch and will continue.

22' Rico crunches into Lewandowski with the Poland international needing treatment. Barcelona fans will be hoping his injury is nothing serious.

20' WIDE! Dembele has been involved in every Barcelona attack so far. In space on the right, he decides against going past the defender, instead picking out the run of De Jong who rushes towards the near post. With nobody going with him, he pokes his effort just wide.

19' Sociedad have not had a shot.

17' WIDE! What an effort from Dembele. Receiving a short pass from Kounde, the winger takes the ball from inside the Barcelona half to the edge of the Sociedad box. Moving it onto his left foot, he ignores Lewandowski before curling an effort just wide of the post.

15' Pedri keeps the ball close to his feet just outside the box, beating a couple of defenders before possession is poked away from him. It goes in the direction of De Jong whose backheel goes into the hands of the goalkeeper.

13' Going near the corner flag, Gavi is put under pressure by two Sociedad defenders. Flicking it back to Dembele, the winger looks inside to Balde who finds De Jong. Playing a one-two with the defender, the former Ajax man chips it over the defence to his team-mate, but his cross from the left is cleared away.

11' OFFSIDE! The home side have the ball in the net, but it will not count. Inside the box, Lewandowski's effort deflects off De Jong and into the net. However, the midfielder was in an offside position and the goal will not count. It looked like it was heading in before it hit the back of De Jong.

9' CHANCE! Barcelona move forward with pace down the right wing after Ter Stegen finds Dembele with a direct pass. On the right side of the box, the Frenchman holds onto the ball waiting for options. Cutting it onto his left foot, he finds Lewandowski who has his shot blocked.

7' Barcelona have controlled the opening exchanges of the game. However, they have not broken through the Sociedad defence that is standing firm.

5' Another corner from Pedri fails to find a Barcelona team-mate. This time Remiro punches it away from danger. He could have caught it but chose the safest option.

4' Barcelona have the first shot of the game. On the left flank, Pedi and Balde play a one-two. The midfielder feeds the ball inside to Busquets who dribbles past one defender before playing it back to the wing. Balde receives it, cutting inside before curling a shot well over the bar.

2' Pedri's outswinging corner goes over the head of Araujo and is cleared away by Oyarzabal who is back to help the defensive effort.

1' Sociedad get this Copa del Rey quarter-final under way at Camp Nou.

Barcelona got the better of Sociedad in their only meeting so far this season. Alexander Isak levelled the score after Lewandowski’s opener before Dembele restored Barcelona’s lead. Lewandowski then scored his second of the game two minutes later, with Fati adding a fourth to complete the rout.

As for Sociedad, Alguacil makes three alterations to the team that beat Rayo Vallecano in the league. The defence remains the same, with the manager electing to play wingers instead of a narrow formation. As a result, Kubo and Oyarzabal start. Playing alongside Sorloth in attack in the previous game, Barrenetxea drops to the bench. Out through injury, David Silva is not part of the squad. The third change is in the midfield. Zubimendi is preferred ahead of Illarramendi and is playing just in front of the defence.

Barcelona make three changes to the team that beat Getafe in LaLiga. In the defence, Kounde moves from centre-back to right-back with Araujo replacing Roberto. Gavi remains in the side but moves up to left wing with Raphinha on the bench. Leaving a space in the midfield, De Jong starts. The final switch is in the striker position, with Lewandowski coming in for Fati.

REAL SOCIEDAD SUBS: Andoni Zubiaurre, Asier Illarramendi, Ander Barrenetxea, Carlos Fernandez, Aihen Munoz, Robert Navarro, Benat Turrientes, Ander Martin, Urko Gonzalez de Zarate, Jon Ander Olasagasti.

REAL SOCIEDAD (4-1-4-1): Alex Remiro; Aritz Elustondo, Igor Zubeldia, Robin Le Normand, Diego Rico; Martin Zubimendi; Takefusa Kubo, Brais Mendez, Pablo Marin, Mikel Oyarzabal; Alexander Sorloth.

BARCELONA SUBS: Inaki Pena, Arnau Tenas, Hector Bellerin, Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba, Franck Kessie, Sergi Roberto, Raphinha, Eric Garcia.

BARCELONA (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde; Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Pedri; Ousmane Dembele, Robert Lewandowski, Gavi.

As for Sociedad, they have played two more games than Barcelona to get to this stage of the Copa del Ray. Imanol Alguacil’s team brushed aside Cazalegas and Coria before back-to-back 1-0 wins over Logrones and Mallorca. Champions in 2020, Sociedad exited the competition at this point last season, losing 4-0 to eventual winners Real Betis. Just six points behind Barcelona in LaLiga, the away side come into the game in good form and will be hoping to secure their eighth straight win in all competitions.

Barcelona thrashed Ceuta in the previous round to progress to the quarter-final stage of the Copa del Ray after avoiding an upset in the last 32. Travelling to Intercity, the third-tier side levelled the score on three occasions through hat-trick hero Oriol Soldevila before Ansu Fati scored the decisive goal in extra time. Barcelona have won the competition 31 times – more than any other side – and have lifted the trophy five times in the past eight seasons.

Hello and welcome to the live commentary for the Copa del Rey quarter-final clash between Barcelona and Real Sociedad.

Barcelona v Real Sociedad Live Commentary, 2023/01/25

Key Events

Match Stats

Commentary