Real Sociedad manager praises Hansi Flick’s Barcelona – ‘It’s a joy to watch them’ | OneFootball

Real Sociedad manager Imanol Alguacil has heaped praise on Barcelona ahead of their La Liga clash at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Sunday evening.

With the Blaugrana hoping to maintain their grip at the top of the table, they will be aiming to collect all three points against La Real, who already beat them in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

As such, it makes for an interesting encounter tomorrow in Montjuic, and Alguacil was full of praise for the way Barcelona play, particularly highlighting their relentless hunger for scoring as many goals as possible.

Barcelona one of the best teams in the world

Barça are undefeated in 2025, with 14 matches played and no losses. On being asked if this was the best Barcelona team this season and in recent years, the Real Sociedad boss replied:

“Surely, I think that both individually and collectively they are in a great moment. It’s a joy to watch them, with the audacity they play with, scoring one or two goals and looking for the third, fourth or fifth.

“That’s why at certain moments they concede more goals than they would like.”

Alguacil continued to praise the Blaugrana, saying: “They always play to score more goals and try to kill teams. At this level, they have made a huge leap forward.

“They always press up front and are very aggressive, and with the ball we’re not going to discover that now, both individually and collectively they’re growing a lot and they’re having a great season.”

Real Sociedad beat Barcelona earlier this season. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Alguacil added that Barça were one of the best teams in the world, along with Real Madrid, saying:

“If I said the other day that Real Madrid are one of the best teams in the world, it goes without saying that Barcelona are on a par.”

Team news

Tomorrow’s match at Montjuic will be a challenging one for Real Sociedad, given the absences of Jon Pacheco, Arsen Zakharyan, Alvaro Odriozola, Sheraldo Becker, Nayef Aguerd, and Takefusa Kubo.

Adding to the concerns, Luka Sucic and Mikel Oyarzabal finished the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Real Madrid with discomfort.

Providing an update on the fitness situation of the squad, the La Real boss said: “Aside from those players, Luka Sucic is still struggling with discomfort and is almost certainly ruled out of training, meaning he is highly unlikely to be available.

“As for Mikel Oyarzabal, we will wait until the last moment because he finished the last game with hamstring discomfort. Based on how he felt yesterday, I fear he will not be available either.

“I will try to assemble a competitive squad and starting eleven to face Barcelona.”

Source: MARCA