Khaberni - Barcelona, the title holder, overturned their deficit for the second consecutive match, overcoming their guest Real Sociedad 2-1 on Sunday during the seventh stage, to snatch the lead in the Spanish football league standings, exploiting the defeat of their traditional rival Real Madrid against their host, Atletico Madrid, 2-5 on Saturday.
Following Real Madrid's loss, the match at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium became doubly significant for the Blaugrana, as a victory would secure them the top position.
The Catalan club enhanced its tally to 19 points, one point ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, while Sociedad continued their series of failures, owning just five points out of a possible 21, sitting in the seventeenth position.
The victory only came after the team, coached by the German Hansi Flick, fell behind to a goal by Álvaro Odriozola (31), before Frenchman Jules Koundé equalized two minutes before the end of the first half.
Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored the winning goal from a golden pass by young star substitute Lamine Yamal, returning to the pitch after missing the last four matches due to injury (59), in a scenario similar to the game from the sixth round when Barcelona came back from a deficit to win 3-1 against Real Oviedo.
The hosts began the match threatening Sociedad's goal with successive chances, the first through English striker Marcus Rashford, who tried to open the scoring but his powerful shot from inside the box following a back-heel pass from Dutchman Frenkie de Jong was bravely saved by goalkeeper Alex Remiro (10).
Remiro again denied a shot from Uruguayan Ronald Araujo from outside the box (22).
Despite the flow of the game, Sociedad snatched a leading goal following a counterattack after a great effort by Ander Barrenetxea who bypassed Koundé on the edge of the box on the left side before passing a fantastic ball to an unmarked Odriozola who easily netted it inside the goal (31).
Remiro once again saved his team from a certain goal after Dutchman Frenkie de Jong sent a cross that Igor Zubeldia accidentally directed towards his own goal (29) before Pedri tried to follow up but the defense turned it into a corner (39).
Remiro continued to shine after blocking a shot from Ronnie Bardghji (42).
Barcelona finally managed to enforce a draw before the end of the first half after a corner taken by Rashford and followed by Koundé with a header into the goal (43).
Barcelona continued their pressure in the second half attempting to snatch the three points sufficient to grant them the lead, with Flick introducing his young star Jamal at minute 57 along with Dani Olmo, who came on for the 17-year-old Drew Fernández, who was given his debut by Flick.
Less than two minutes later, Jamal displayed his magical touches as he penetrated inside the box on the right side and delivered a perfect cross that Lewandowski met with a header into the net (59).
While Barcelona was the side more in control of the game, Sociedad relied on counterattacks to try to equalize. But the final touch remained in favor of the hosts, who thought they had scored a third goal through Jamal, but the referee disallowed it due to offside (74).
Barcelona's fans held their breath after Sociedad nearly equalized with a rocket shot from Japanese Takefusa Kubo that hit the crossbar (84), before the same crossbar denied Lewandowski a chance to enhance the score in a counterattack following a great team play (85).
