Real Sociedad – Real Madrid: Xabi Alonso’s Victory Against Old Companions (1-2)

Real Madrid edged past Real Sociedad in a game in which refereeing controversies were the main theme. Kylian Mbappé maintained the savior status, banking his fourth goal in La Liga and assisting Arda Güler’s. After Dean Huijsen’s red card, Real Madrid retreated to defend their lead, securing a tough three points in the Reale Arena.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

Allies of the past are adversaries of the present. Xabi Alonso returns to San Sebastián, this time as a rival. Real Sociedad, the club that launched his career as a player and later believed in his capabilities as a young manager to take over Real Sociedad B from 2019 to 2022, now stands on the opposite side. After three remarkable years with Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso has taken the reins at Real Madrid, recording three straight wins before the international break. His fourth challenge awaits at the Reale Arena, where maintaining La Liga’s lead is the mission.

After seven seasons, Real Sociedad decided to part ways with Imanol Alguacil. The Spanish manager led the Basque Club to the podium in the 2019/20 season, guiding them to lift the Copa Del Rey. Except for his first and last seasons, Real Sociedad has never ended up out of the top six. That saw them as a mainstay in the European competitions, with a UEFA Champions League participation in the 2023/24 campaign. The San Sebastián Club promoted their reserve team manager, Sergio Francisco, as Alguacil’s successor. The opening three games weren’t promising, as he amassed only two points out of nine, and the fourth is against the league leaders.

Sergio Francisco lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Sergio Gómez, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Igor Zubeldia, and Aritz Elustondo formed the backline. Jon Gorrotxategi and Pablo Marin partnered in midfield. Ahead, Ander Barrenetxea and Gonçalo Guedes operated wide with Mikel Goti sitting behind Mikel Oyarzabal.

Xabi Alonso entered the game with Dani Carvajal on the right and Alvaro Carreras on the left. Dean Huijsen and Éder Militão sat at the core of the defense. Dani Ceballos featured alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni in the pivot. Arda Güler operated behind Kylian Mbappé, whereas Vinicius Junior and Brahim Diaz hugged the touchlines.

A promising start from the visitors

The game started with the referee ruling out Arda Güler’s goal due to an offside situation from Kylian Mbappé. Aurélien Tchouaméni found Dani Carvajal down the right inside channel. Near the touchlines, Brahim Diaz lured Sergio Gomez to shift across. As a result, the space between the center-back and left back was stretched for Dani Carvajal to slide the ball toward Kylian Mbappé, running behind. The French striker toyed with the goalkeeper and assisted Arda Güler’s disallowed goal.

Real Sociedad swung between 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 medium block, narrowing their lines horizontally and vertically, attempting to funnel the visitors toward the wide flanks. Real Madrid relied on switches of play to access the wide options and force Real Sociedad backward. That saw Xabi Alonso’s players operate in close proximity whilst circulating the ball. Additionally, it served the visitors well in jumping on immediately to counterpress following a possession loss.

Nine minutes in, Tchouaméni pounced on Gorrotxategi’s pass toward Guedes and permitted the team to reload the attack. Kylian Mbappé played the ball backward to Dani Carvajal and looked to attack the space behind Aritz Elustondo. Real Madrid’s captain with a trivela pass set Mbappé in front of the goal. However, the latter effort was easily picked up by the goalkeeper.

Out of possession, Real Madrid adopted a man-oriented approach high up the pitch. Arda Güler joined Kylian Mbappé to initiate the press, with one of them curving his run to cut off the passing lane between the goalkeeper and the center-back, whereas the other was readying himself to jump onto his man. The wingers engaged with the opposite fullbacks, whilst Dani Ceballos occupied Gorrotxategi. Dean Huijsen stepped out and followed Mikel Goti, and Tchouaméni marked Pablo Marin. Real Madrid fullbacks kept tabs on the opposite wingers, with Éder Militão staying close to Oyarzabal.

11th minute: Real Sociedad buildup sequence. As aforementioned, Real Madrid presses in a man-to-man fashion. Aritz Elustondo darts behind Vinicius Junior, allowing the goalkeeper to chip the ball over into the space between the lines. As a result, the hosts generate a two-versus-one scenario against Alvaro Carreras. Elustondo carries forward and plays the ball toward Barrenetxea near the byline. The latter looks to cut in and find Mikel Oyarzabal near the far post. However, his delivery went outside.

Eleven minutes in, Real Madrid retreated after Dean Huijsen missed his line-breaking pass. Tchouaméni obliged Guedes to play wide, and Ceballos continued the mission, forcing the play backward. Vinicius Junior’s pressure on Mikel Goti drove the latter to launch a miscued pass backward. Kylian Mbappé collected the ball, outpacing Ćaleta-Car to find the back of the net.

Real Sociedad kept finding wide inroads to progress and arrive at crossing positions. However, the visitors effectively dealt with the home team’s crosses. Not only that, but Real Madrid took advantage of Sociedad’s lateness in rearranging their lines to initiate quick transitions. Fifteen minutes in, Courtois picked up Carvajal’s chest pass and fed Vinicius Junior. The latter advanced in space and picked out Kylian Mbappé in the left inside channel. The Frenchman dribbled past Zubeldia and curled his effort toward the right post.

Real Sociedad manipulates the visitors’ defensive block

In deeper positions, Real Madrid lined up in a 4-4-2 low block. On the left side, Pablo Marín and Mikel Oyarzabal tended to shift across to overload the ball side and funnel the visiting team toward the left. From there, Real Sociedad worked the ball back to switch it to the opposite side toward Guedes. The hosts generated crossing situations where Alvaro Carreras rose to the occasion, clearing away Sociedad’s deliveries.

Additionally, Jon Gorrotxategi, uncontested, stepped back behind the ball. The hosts’ fullbacks adopted a narrow position, which allowed them to overload Real Madrid’s front four. As a result, Gorrotxategi found central inroads and gained access to Mikel Goti. The latter dribbled past Tchouaméni and found Guedes around Éder Militão. From the left, Guedes wandered around the box to arrive at the right channel, where Carreras blocked off his cross.

Éder Militão wasn’t keen on following Mikel Oyarzabal on a regular basis when Real Sociedad worked the ball down the left side. As a reaction, Tchouaméni found himself obliged to drop and keep tabs on the home team’s striker. Consequently, it left the inside channel free for Ander Barrenetxea, and he tried his luck from a distance.

Moreover, Real Madrid’s rushed decisions played in Sociedad’s favor, especially in the first phase of the attack. The Basque team intentionally directed the play toward the left side, allowing Courtois to pick Carvajal. After the latter prodded the ball onto Brahim Diaz, Sergio Gomez pounced on, dispossessing the Moroccan and giving his team the chance to turn over.

Twist in the tale

Thirty-two minutes in, the referee sent Dean Huijsen off after he fouled Mikel Oyarzabal, deeming that the Real Sociedad striker was the last man running. Xabi Alonso instructed Aurélien Tchouaméni to drop back and join the defensive line. The visitors ditched all the ground progression ways, relying on long balls. However, Real Madrid’s large distances between their lines tipped the scales in Sociedad’s favor to easily collect the second balls.

In addition, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappé took higher positions compared to Brahim Diaz, who tended to drop and support Dani Carvajal. And despite playing with one man down, Real Madrid doubled the score. Still one minute until the end of the first half, Arda Güler picked out Kylian Mbappé down the left inside channel and attacked the penalty box. The latter dribbled past Elustondo, infiltrated, and fed Arda Güler, who put the ball home.

Xabi Alonso brought in Federico Valverde for Brahim Diaz. Real Madrid put more emphasis on sitting deep and breaking on the counter. However, Real Sociedad started to build momentum as time elapsed. On the left inside channel, Pablo Marin intentionally attempted to run and drag Arda Güler with him. Therefore, Ćaleta-Car had time and space to advance into high areas. From there, he switched the play toward Guedes on the right. In the meantime, Mikel Oyarzabal drew Tchouaméni and Militão backward. That vacated the space around the penalty area for Pablo Marin to come from behind and hit the post.

52nd minute: Real Sociedad buildup sequence. Álex Remiro takes advantage of Real Madrid leaving the wide channel unmarked to find Sergio Gomez. Pablo Marin drops deep, dragging Valverde with him. That evacuated the midfield for Mikel Goti to dash into and receive Ander Barrenetxea’s out-in pass. The latter notices Elustondo sneaking behind Vinicius Junior to supply him. Sociedad’s right back gallops the length of the pitch and picks out Guedes, who is fouled by Vinicius Junior.

Nine minutes into the second half, in the second phase of Sociedad’s corner, Ander Barrenetxea drove toward the byline and cut the ball back into Dani Carvajal’s hand. The referee awarded a penalty kick, which Mikel Oyarzabal successfully guided into the net. The home team camped in Real Madrid’s defensive half, attempting to generate crossing situations on the right side after overloading the left.

64th minute: Jon Gorrotxategi has space to carry the ball forward until Dani Ceballos steps out. In the meantime, Ander Barrenetxea darts diagonally behind Arda Güler. The former releases Mikel Oyarzabal behind Real Madrid’s backline in a one-on-one situation against Courtois. The Belgian goalkeeper’s effort saves his team from conceding.

Fran Garcia and Raul Asencio came on for Vinicius Junior and Dani Ceballos. Xabi Alonso brought in Garcia to double up on Takefusa Kubo, mark Aramburu to prevent him from delivering crosses, and cover the right inside channel when Alvaros Carreras shifted wide. On the left inside channel, Raul Asencio tended to step out on Carlos Soler or Arsen Zakharyan. The hosts exploited Asencio’s explosive bursts, with Barrentxea luring Carvajal to push on to attack the space left behind Real Madrid’s backline.

When Jon Gorrotxategi departed the action, Carlos Soler retreated to fill his spot, whereas Arsen Zakharyan functioned down the left inside channel. The latter tended to drag Tchouaméni across to allow Carlos Soler to receive in space. Meanwhile, Jon Karrikaburu pulled Éder Militão out of his position. Hence, Soler slid a through ball to Mikel Oyarzabal, who ran behind Arda Güler down the right inside. Fortunately, Thibaut Courtois swept early behind the defense.

Takeaways

Real Madrid started the game with the intention of nipping it early in the bud. A disallowed goal didn’t make the visitors hold back their attempts until they hit their target. Nevertheless, Dean Huijsen’s red card changed the flow and the events of the game. A decision that Xabi Alonso stated he couldn’t understand, as Dean Huijsen didn’t foul the last man, and Éder Militão was close to recovering.

After Dean Huijsen was sent off, Real Sociedad took control of the game, with Xabi Alonso’s team defending deep in the hope of protecting the win and going back to Madrid with three points. The mission was successfully fulfilled, with Los Blancos remaining at the top and shifting their attention toward their game against Marseille in the UEFA Champions League.

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