Barcelona

Dembele's revival continued as he inspired Barca to the Copa del Rey semi-finals against Real Sociedad.

That meant it was a familiar starting XI to the one that inspired the 3-1 demolition of [Real Madrid](https://theathletic.com/football/team/real-madrid/) in that Supercopa final. One of the most important things to succeed at Barcelona is to have enough self-belief to know you’ll make the difference, and he had it tonight.” And even more important than the numbers is the belief Dembele is exhibiting. This is the only game in which Dembele, playing alongside the four midfielders, has not been involved in a goal, although it didn’t make too much difference. But it also allowed Dembele to put in his best performance yet in five and a half years at the Camp Nou. That red card led to a three-match ban for the Poland striker. “I’m so happy for Dembele, because he’s done something that is not easy in Barcelona — to turn the omelette onto the other side,” Xavi said afterwards. Real did it first’ — Jaume Roures, the man who crosses Spain’s conflicting football worlds](https://theathletic.com/4121851/2023/01/25/barcelona-jaume-roures-la-liga/) [Ousmane Dembele](https://theathletic.com/football/player/ousmane-dembele-n2omWOfBdvkJ6c6U/) was not aboard. [Barcelona 1-0 Real Sociedad: Player statistics, formations, xG](https://theathletic.com/football/game/barcelona-vs-real-sociedad/zAyqlVKoGbYoGosF/) [‘Barca pulling ‘levers’? [Real Sociedad](https://theathletic.com/football/team/real-sociedad/) in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on Wednesday night. Negotiations over Dembele’s contract extension had stalled earlier in the month and Barcelona’s sporting directors, led by Mateu Alemany, took an executive decision — the France winger would not be part of Xavi’s team to face Athletic.

Ousmane Dembele's second-half strike has given Barcelona a 1-0 win over 10-man Real Sociedad in their Copa del...

Barcelona were the better side for most of the match after that but the only goal of the game came thanks to a brilliant counter-attack by man-of-the-match Dembele in the 52nd minute. After Gavi volleyed against the crossbar from a great cross by Dembele in the 68th minute, Sociedad made a late push and could have scored on at least three occasions, with Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen making a string of saves to secure the win. Real Sociedad came into the match on the back of nine consecutive wins in all competitions and almost scored in the 29th minute when Japanese youngster Take Kubo's strike hit the bar.