Barcelona finish a La Liga match with no shots on target 10 years later

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Imanol's Real Sociedad achieved against Barcelona what no one had managed to do since 2014: to leave them without a shot on target in an entire La Liga match. The coach from San Sebastian took over from Javi Gracia, the architect of the feat in September 2014, at the helm of Malaga. In the Champions League, it had happened to Xavi Hernandez's side against Bayern in 2022.

1 week ago
The Barcelona of the 30 consecutive games scoring, the one that came to Anoeta averaging 3.44 goals per game, fell to their knees at the Reale Arena. Impotent, helpless, manhandled. Without scoring for the first time under Hansi Flick. A match of choral commitment and martial discipline from Imanol's side that had a double reward: the win and going down in history as the team that once again left the Catalan team without shooting on target in a La Liga match 10 years later.
Not only is the merit surprising against this Flick side that this year has beaten Valladolid, Girona, Villarreal, Sevilla, Real Madrid, Young Boys, Bayern and Red Star; it is that not even in the worst versions of Xavi, Quique Setien, Koeman (especially these, who have lived through the sluggish period) or Ernesto Valverde, had Barcelona gone without a shot on target from the opening or final whistle.
Until Sunday, La Rosaleda remained as a remnant of that latest feat, which was achieved by Javi Gracia's Malaga against Luis Enrique's Barcelona. A decade already sounds a long time ago, but the fact is worth noting for emphasis: 6 of the 11 'Cules' starters from that day are retired; 1 is unemployed and 3 are playing in minor leagues in their last days as footballers.
The only shot on target for the Catalan side ended in a goal. But an offside off Lewandowski's foot size ended up disallowing the goal, not without the clamour of controversy due to the tightness and the hilariousness of the even. This season, there was only one bad statistical day for Barca: the night in Monaco, with only one shot on target (which was a goal, by the way), but with the mitigating asterisk of having played with 10 men for 80 minutes.
The average until the visit to San Sebastisn was 6.94 per game, with some great figures such as having registered 7 in the Bernabeu, 6 games reaching 9 or the 11 he managed to shoot in the visit to Valladolid.

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