La Liga: Barcelona Dominates 10-Man Real Sociedad to Regain Top Position

On Sunday, Barcelona dominated Real Sociedad with a 4-0 victory, reclaiming the top spot in La Liga. Aritz Elustondo's early red card made it an easy afternoon for Hansi Flick's team, with goals from Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo, and Robert Lewandowski. Despite Atletico Madrid temporarily knocking them off the top with a win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, Barcelona managed to regain their position. Meanwhile, Real Madrid suffered a defeat against Real Betis, staying in third place. Flick was able to make some changes to the lineup in preparation for the upcoming Champions League match against Benfica on Wednesday, securing a one-point lead over Atletico.

"There were a lot of things that helped us a lot today, the red card but also how we played, we were dominant after the red card," Flick told reporters.

The German coach said before the game Barca would fight hard to win all of the three major competitions they are in, and reiterated it afterwards.

"Today we are happy with the three points and there's a long way to go in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League," he continued.

"We will fight for every title and when we started the season no-one (expected) this.

"We're in this situation, that we can fight (for the trophies), and that's what we want until the end of the season."

Real Sociedad, ninth, threatened in the opening stages but fell foul of Barcelona's offside trap, with Sergio Gomez's strike ruled out.

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At the other end Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez came close when he pressed La Real goalkeeper Alex Remiro and deflected his attempted clearance just over and onto the roof of the net.

The game swung Barcelona's way when Elustondo was sent off in the 17th minute for pulling down Dani Olmo, who was running through on goal.

The hosts took the lead after 25 minutes when Olmo chipped the ball across for Martin to fire home the first goal of his career.

Four minutes later, Barca had their second, with Olmo involved again, this time his wayward shot deflected home by team-mate Casado.

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The enterprising Lamine Yamal teed up Pedri but Remiro saved his shot from the edge of the box as Barca dominated.

- 'Happy to help' -

Pedri came close again after the break with an effort from range which bounced back off the crossbar, shortly before Araujo nabbed the third.

Remiro pushed out Lewandowski's header from corner but Araujo nodded home the rebound.

Lewandowski cleverly converted Barcelona's fourth, prodding home Araujo's low drive from distance.

The 36-year-old leads the league with 21 goals in 25 appearances.

"I'm very happy for our performance and it was important to win and go back to being leaders," Araujo told Movistar.

"I'm happy for the good work we did and going first again."

Since recovering from a bad knee injury, Araujo has been unable to reclaim a regular starting spot in defence.

"I came back from a long-term injury, I'm calm and going step by step, I believe in myself and my characteristics, and I am happy to help," said Araujo.

"I think it is important to have a competitive team to win titles, not just 11 players but a good bench too."

Barcelona played out the final half an hour without incident, occasionally threatening, with substitute Ferran Torres twice coming close to a fifth.

"The red card, after that the game changed completely, we came here to try and dominate the ball," said Real Sociedad defender Javi Lopez.

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"A sending off changes everything... they also had luck on their goals and that makes it very difficult against one of the best teams in the world."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)