Real Madrid drop points following a draw to Real Sociedad
It was a battle between the second and third place teams in LaLiga as Real Madrid played host to Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Sociedad were fresh off a loss to Barcelona midweek in the Copa del Rey but were on a tremendous run of form in the league. Real Madrid, on the other hand, beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 in the cup and had lost two out of their last five games which is a mini-crisis for the Spanish giants.
Madrid were the better side in the first half, in particular Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo. Their ability to create something out of nothing presented a danger to the visiting side though they were able to snuff things out when faced with the challenge.
La Real keeper Álex Remiro made a couple of key saves to keep game scoreless. His impact was felt more in the second half when he denied a one-on-one chance from Vinicius Jr. It wasn’t until the second half were Real Sociedad finally began creating more clear cut goal scoring opportunities.
Takefusa Kubo was their best player going forward and had a couple of tries at Thibaut Courtois but the Belgian came out on the winning end each time. Kubo also tracked back and helped out on defense, providing an outlet to play from the back and helping cover Vinicius Jr.
Carlo Ancelotti brought on Luka Modric and Marco Asensio late in the half to try to break the deadlock but were unable to influence the game to a significant extent.
Desperate to get a winner, the game opened up in the final 10 minutes with Real Sociedad matching Real Madrid’s pace. They arguably had the better opportunities in the final minutes but simply couldn’t connect with the final pass.
Next. Barcelona grind out a 1-0 win against Girona. dark
In the end, Madrid could not break the deadlock, meaning they dropped two points and are now five points behind Barcelona in LaLiga. As for Real Sociedad, they are now seven points behind Barcelona but remain only three points behind Madrid for second place.