The first post Messi La Liga match for the Blaugrana. This is the match I was looking at the likes of Antoine and Memphis to show that they can fit into the shoes of the great one. No recognizable center forward in the Barca lineup for that one and to be honest was a bit worried the goals will be few in this one. Memphis played a robust game on the wing despite on paper being the striker in the team but the player who impressed the most was Griezmann. Something tells me he will relish the free role he will be given this season. New signing Kun Aguero starting from the bench(rumor has it he feels betrayed by the club for letting his pal Leo leave so easily, his so called reason for choosing to come to Camp Nou)

Opening the scoring was veteran defender Gerard Pique with a goal that defied the Barca philosophy, just a cross and a header, that simple. Up until that goal Barca were falling into the usual pattern of passes in and around the box with little effort on goal except for Griezmann's header onto the post. Over elaboration sometimes does not yield results. Sociedad who had a good campaign last season had Oyarzabal back fresh from the Olympics part of a decent front three that included Belgian Januzaj(ex man United) and David Silva(ex Man City). The disappointing thing in this match was their failure to see out the first half when they conceded the Braithwaite goal on the stroke of half time. Again simple cross and header. Both two crosses from Dutchman Memphis and De Jong respectively. After the break, Sociedad showed their fighting credentials with a fight back from 3-0 to pull it to 3-2. The Barca defense is testing out a new center back partnership of Eric Garcia and Pique, the first goal for La Real showing there is work to be done there. Oyarzabal with a contender for free kick of the season with a special for Sociedad's second. The very part where Neto could not reach it, talk about finding the sweet spot. The nerves were calmed by Sergi Roberto in injury time to show that the time for mourning the departure of Messi is definitely over and Barca are itching to go in La Liga this season.