Barça News
Barcelona fans troll Real Sociedad coach for pre-game statements

Following their Spanish Supercup semifinal win, Barcelona fans have not held back on social media as they ruthlessly troll Real Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil for his pre-game comments. The 49-year-old made bold claims ahead of the game, making his confidence of progressing to the final evident. He was quoted saying: “I said goodbye to my wife for 10 days. I’m sure we will reach the final.”
Alguacil’s words were gallant to say the least. However, Real Sociedad went into the cup tie having picked up just one win from their last seven fixtures. Their form has been shaky of late, marred further by injuries to many key players. The Sociedad coach’s comments seemed even more audacious considering Barcelona’s recent form with 4 wins out of 5 going into the tie and having scored 12 goals in the process.
Barcelona and Real Sociedad played a hotly contested game in the semifinal. The match ended one goal apiece at the end of regulation time, as Frenkie de Jong’s opener, assisted by Antoine Griezmann, was cancelled out by a Mikel Oyarzabal spotkick. What followed was a cagey affair with both sides unable to find the winning goal. Marc Andre ter Stegen prevailed as a hero for Barcelona in the penalty shootout that followed, making two vital saves to help Barcelona through to the Spanish Supercup final.
Following the game, Cules have shown no mercy to Alguacil for his comments. Fans worldwide have made it apparent that the La Real coach’s statements were rather brazen and premature.
"Honey, I'm home." https://t.co/tXOcArdavq pic.twitter.com/cRCCVxxM39
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) January 13, 2021
Barcelona will now turn their attention to the other semifinal between Athletic Club and Real Madrid. The Blaugrana will face the winner of that tie in the final in 4 days’ time. As for Real Sociedad, they must now regroup and shift their focus back to La Liga.







Barça News
Papers: Barcelona march to the quarter-finals after a great comeback

Even though it looked bleak for the first 45 minutes of the game, Barcelona managed to overturn their eventual deficit and advance to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. Seeing how it’s the only competition in which they are still firmly alive, this is great news for the Catalans.
The papers this morning are all reacting to Ronald Koeman’s in-game management and for once, the Dutchman is being praised. Mundo Deportivo talk about a ‘reaction‘ from Barcelona as they woke up in the second part of the clash.

Even though it were Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong who put the finishing touches, there were other good performers on the night and Barcelona managed to create many chances. Not only that but they hit the post three times.
SPORT are on the same page, praising Koeman and his proper usage of substitutes.

They were asleep throughout most of the game but the changes in the second half really stirred things up for the better. This is a great sign because usually, when they go behind, there is often no coming back.
However, this Barcelona, Koeman’s Barcelona, is showing signs of improvement and is slowly but surely getting rid of their ghosts of the past.
Let’s hope it can continue long into the future.