Things have been going great for Barcelona in their quest to three-peat. After a slow start, the blaugrana have been on fire and have recorded wins in their last eight league matches and they currently lead the table with a 2-point advantage over the second place team.
As if this were not enough, the three Ballon d'Or finalists: Xavi Hernandez, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi. These three have been the best players in the world in the past few years and will now battle it out for the most coveted individual award in World Football. Last year, for some unknown reason, Cristiano Ronaldo of all players kept them from sweeping the podium, in what can only be considered either a really lame joke or a publicity stunt by FIFA.
But this year, justice has been made. For the first time, three players from the same academy will be in the top-3. A triumph for La Masia and for Barcelona's football philosophy, as Iniesta pointed out.
But now it's time to get back to Earth. As great as things are going, nothing is won yet. Every team will play their match of the season against Barca, which means that Pep and his mean will have to be extra careful.
Beating Real Sociedad will not be easy. We just need to remember what happened when another newly-promoted team visited Camp Nou; that's right, Hercules shocked the football by beating Barcelona 0-2. Real Sociedad are having an even better season than Hercules, which means that Barcelona will have to bring their best football in order to collect the three points. Complacenty might prove costly.
Next week, there's a very important, and difficult, derby at Espanyol, who have a 100% record at their home. But for now, all focus must be on Real Sociedad. Barcelona's rivals in the title race are still very close and eagerly waiting to take advantage of any Barcelona slip-up. It's up to Pep and his team to show that they're up to the challenge. Also, it's up to Barcelona's Holy Trinity to show why they were nominated for the Ballon d'Or.