Barça endured a deeply frustrating night on their visit to San Sebastian. Frustrating because of the defeat, because of the two goals ruled out, because of the penalty that never was… and because of the woodwork. Above all, the woodwork. In a match packed with chances and dangerous attacks, no fewer than five efforts crashed against the frame of Álex Remiro’s goal. A lot. Far too many.

Five times off the woodwork

Since Opta began recording the statistic in the 2003/04 season, only three teams have hit the woodwork five times in a single match. All three were Barça. The first came in December 2015 against Betis at Spotify Camp Nou. Two years later, in December 2017 and again at home, it happened against Deportivo de La Coruña.

Olmo (2), Lewy, Kounde and Rashford

This time, it was Real Sociedad who rode their luck, and all five cases came after the break. Dani Olmo led the way with a painful double. In the 47th minute, and again in the 48th, he was denied what would have been the equaliser on two occasions in quick succession. Then, in the 66th minute, Remiro produced a stunning save to claw away Lewandowski’s powerful header, only for the ball to ricochet off the post and roll out.

19 in La Liga; 23 in total

The final two came late on. Koundé, around the 85th minute, and Rashford, directly from a corner, completed a night of sheer exasperation. Those five near misses tell the story of Barça’s misery at Anoeta, but this was no isolated case. With these added, the Catalans have now hit the woodwork 19 times in La Liga alone, rising to 23 across all competitions. In both categories, Hansi Flick’s side top the charts among the five major European leagues.

Even so, the Barça coach chose to focus on the positives, highlighting his team’s strong performance. And while Anoeta has lately become something of a cursed ground for the blaugrana, history offers a curious consolation: on many of the occasions when Barça have lost there, they have gone on to lift the league title. If they continue to play good football and tighten up a few defensive lapses, this defeat should not prove too damaging.

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