Leaving Messi, Neymar On The Bench Costs Barcelona

Luis Enrique gave his two best attacking talents an extended holiday. Lionel Messi and Neymar started the match from the bench as they had returned back to Barcelona just two days before the match. Barcelona had to pay for taking their opponents lightly and lost the match one nil away to David Moyes' Real Sociedad.

Real Sociedad are having a very strange season. Their form have been patchy to say the least but against the big teams they have turned up, especially at home. They have already defeated Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at home. With Barcelona they have now beaten all the top three sides in the current league table at home.

With David Moyes a mid-table club seems to be a perfect fit. With Manchester United he seemed to have bitten off more than he could chew. At Real Sociedad he is at a club akin to Everton where with limited resources he plots and plans to punch above his weight.

David Moyes played the Real Madrid and Valencia reject Sergio Canales. This proved to be the master stroke. Real Sociedad caught Barcelona off guard by attacking from the very beginning. The creativity of Sergio Canales was the focal point in them. The beautifully weighted corner that he delivered in a very dangerous area in the box was helplessly headed into his own net by Jordi Alba. After that it was a case of dodged and determined defensive display by Moyes' men.

Luis Enrique on the other hand does not seem to know his best starting eleven. In the 25 games in charge he has put out 25 different starting elevens. Barcelona have also looked susceptible away from home in this season previously as well. They have dropped points against Malaga, Gatafe as well as Real Madrid.

To contact the author of this article email a.biswas@IBTimes.com.au