Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was the hero of Barcelona’s 1-1 penalty shootout win over Real Sociedad on Wednesday and their qualification for the Spanish Supercopa final.
Ricky Puig scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in preparation for Sunday’s clash with Real Madrid or Athletic Bilbao, but only after Ter Stegen’s sensational performance. Frankie de Jong gave Barca the lead in the first half, but Mikel Oyarzabal’s second, awarded after De Jong’s handball, caused extra time.
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Real were the better team in the extra 30 minutes, but Ter Stegen made three brilliant saves to take the game to penalties, where he missed shots from Oyarzabal and John Bautista.
De Jong hit the post for Barca and Griezmann converted, but after Uzman Dembele and Miralem Pjanic converted, Puig stepped up to take the decisive penalty.
Positive
Ronald Koeman will take less pleasure in defending his team, but he will be happy with Ronald Araujo’s performance. The Uruguayan shone alongside Ter Stegen as Barca held off La Real in a draw. Puig, whose playing time has been limited this season, will have the confidence to score the winning goal.
A win means Barca can win their first silver trophy on Sunday, which could be the springboard for their stuttering season.
2 Connected
Negative
The bad news came before the game even started: Lionel Messi was deemed not fit enough to go to the bench, and Sergino Dest could not start due to a slight stroke.
As for the game, Barca struggled to control the game, as in recent weeks, and grew increasingly tired. There is still much room for improvement. The fact that they had to play 120 minutes, and in an already busy season, was not ideal.
Managerial classification of 10
6 — Koeman was missing five players due to injury, so his hands were tied to some extent, but he could have made changes early on to avoid overtime.
Player Rating (1-10; 10 = best. Players recorded after 70 minutes are not rated)
Ten-year-old goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen — Wasn’t overwhelmed in regulation time but made three great saves in extra time, the first from Josiba Zaldoua and then two from Adnan Januzaj, the second of which was exceptional. Then there were the heroic sanctions.
DF Oscar Mingueza, 7 — showed his versatility by replacing Dest from right to left. It proves that the team has a very good defender.
DF Ronald Araujo, 9 years old – perhaps his best performance in a Barca jersey. Strong and fast on the ground and dominating in the air against a La Real side that caused a lot of problems.
DF Clement Lenglet, 7 — Has benefited from Araujo’s form and improved in the last few games after a difficult period at the start of the season when he made a lot of mistakes.
DF Jordi Alba, 6 – Defensive, but didn’t contribute on the offensive end as usual.
MF Sergio Busquets, 8 — What he lacked in feet, he made up for with good positional play, fending off several Sociedad attacks.
MF Frankie the Young, 8 years old… He continued his recent excellent form with another non-stop performance in midfield. He put himself in a ridiculous position to convert Griezmann’s cross and was unlucky to get a handball penalty.
Error! The file name is not specified. Marc-Andre ter Stegen was the hero of the Spanish Supercopa final, won by Barcelona on penalties against Real Sociedad. Photo: David S. Bustamante/Secrate/Getty Images
MF Pedri, 7… He’s already made himself irreparable. Again, he was so gentle on the ball that he narrowly missed the presence of Messi, with whom he has bonded so well in recent weeks.
FW Ousmane Dembele, 7 – It’s hard to remember a game where he had so much possession. He was reckless at times, but always demanded the ball and always looked dangerous running towards the opponent. He made some good tackles in overtime.
Six-year-old FW Antoine Griezmann — worked hard and put De Jong’s head on, but Koeman wanted him to be more effective in the final third. The less said about his punishment, the better.
FW Martin Braithwaite, 6 — Did a remarkable job being tireless on the line before leaving with 15 minutes to go before the end of regulation.
Replaces
FW Francisco Trincao, 6 – Looks like he opened the game by attacking players, but often lacked support.
MF Riqui Puig, 6 — Safe scored the winning penalty after he was sent off in overtime.
MF Miralem Pjanic, 6 — Like Puig, he came off the field after being replaced in downtime.
DF Junior Firpo, N/R. A few minutes late in place of Mingueza.
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