Barcelona Anoeta once again proved to be a house of horrors for Barcelona

Anoeta once again proved to be a house of horrors for Barcelona, who fell 1-0 to Real Sociedada on Saturday night in San Sebastian.

It marks the fifth straight league match in which Barcelona were defeated at Real Sociedad's home ground. Barcelona have not won at Anoeta since 2007.

The defeat also reopens the La Liga title race, as Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid are now just three and four points, respectively, beind the league leaders with six matches remaining.

The match played out similarly to the same fixture between the two sides last season. In that encounter a second minute own goal from Jordi Alba doomed the Catalonians. This time around it was another early goal from the Basques that was the deciding score with Mikel Oyarzabal heading home in the fifth minute for the winner.

With Luis Suárez suspended, Barcelona boss Luis Enrique fielded Munir up front in attack, while Rafinha, Arda Turan and Sergi Roberto were handed starts ahead of the rested Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Jordi Alba.

Things could not have started off any worse for Barcelona. Less than five minutes in, the visitors already found themselves behind as Oyarzabal headed in a Xabi Prieto cross to hand the hosts a 1-0 lead. It was a case of poor defending from Barcelona, notably Gerard Piqué, who didn't even jump to try to clear, and Oyarzabal gladly smacked in past Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

The early goal played right into the hands of Real Sociedad boss Eusebio. The former Barcelona B coach aligned his side in a 5-4-1 formation, with Mexico international Carlos Vela as the lone striker up top. La Real was able to absorb the Barcelona attack and then use their speedy wing players to strike on the counter to unsettle Barcelona's already-rattled defence.

Going forward Barcelona were simply unable to penetrate. Luis Enrique's men were reduced to side-to-side passing, with the occasional chip or direct ball getting snuffed out by the Real Sociedad defence. The home side also used tactical fouls to limit their illustrious opponents. Every time Messi got the ball, he was either surrounded by two or three bodies, or was often fouled when trying to push forward. The strategy was clear from Eusebio: Organization in defence, slow down the match, stop Messi and attack via the counter.

With the exception of a Turan chance in the 34th minute that forced Real Sociedad No. 1 Rulli into a save with his legs, Barcelona hardly threatened the hosts' goal and retreated to the dressing room at half-time visibly frustrated.

Seeking a spark to start the second half, Luis Enrique made a switch by replacing Rafinha with Iniesta. Still, Real Sociedad's energy was intact as their defensive mindset remained steadfast.

Ten minutes into the second stanza, for the first time all night, Barcelona attempted a shot from outside the area through Iniesta, which forced Rulli into a save. With the Real Sociedad area completely clogged, attempts from distance were there for the taking to potentially loosen up the Real Sociedad defence, but Barcelona hesitated to do so, sticking to their quick pass-and-move style.

Alba for Turan at the hour mark was Luis Enrique's second change, presumably to add more width to the Barcelona attack. Neymar then had a crack at goal via a free kick only to curl his effort just a hair wide.

Luis Enrique's last roll of the dice came with Rakitic replacing Sergi Roberto 20 minutes from time and finally Barcelona's attack had a spark. Messi was presented with a great chance after some good work from Piqué in the area, but Rulli was there to make the save. The Argentine had another look at goal late on, but his header landed right in the arms of Rulli.

There would be no late miracle as once again Barcelona will return from a trip to San Sebastian empty handed.

Twitter: @ArchBell