Barca Wins their First La Liga Game in a Post-Messi Era

Barcelona's first season without Messi in 17 years began on Sunday with a 4-2 triumph against Real Sociedad in the Spanish league, with many in the over 20,000-strong audience at the Camp Nou Stadium paying respect to the Argentine star.

With his 50th goal for the club, Captain Gerard Pique gave them the lead in the 19th minute. Martin Braithwaite scored two goals in the first half, one in injury time and the other in the 59th minute. Sergi Roberto scored the game's fourth goal in the last minute.

They had to hold their breath at one point as Sociedad fought back from 3-0 down to tie the game at 3-2 due to goals from 20-year-old Julen Lobete in the 82nd minute and skipper Mikel Oyarzabal's 30-meter free-kick three minutes later. Over 20,000 fans showed out for the first time since the pandemic.