Real Sociedad – Atlético Madrid: Stalemate In San Sebastián (1-1)

The first sixty seconds paved the way for a battle of persistent offense against a stubborn defense. In the end, the two teams had to settle on a stalemate that reflected imperfections.

Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

Real Sociedad are still in a state of stagnancy. While Mikel Merino and Robin Le Normand, now among Atlético's ranks, had left the club in the summer, results remain underwhelming. From their first eight fixtures, the Basques have only banked eight points and scored a mere six goals. Lying in fourteenth place in the table at the start of the weekend, they were six points adrift of qualification for continental competition— and closer to the bottom three. Are the alarms ringing for Imanol Alguacil?

Atlético Madrid entered the summer, having fallen short of their standards under Diego Simeone. The icon could not inspire his men to the usual place in the top three and the board backed him to the tune of €190 million. Conor Gallagher and Julián Alvarez arrived from England while Alexander Sørloth, the second highest scorer in the division last year, hoped to fire up the offense. But while they are only one of two teams to have an unbeaten record in the top tier, fourth place remains familiar.

Both camps were keen . . .