The two giants in Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid were knocked out in the last stage of the Copa del Rey. Real Sociedad became the highest-ranked La Liga team in the competition, they drew Mirandes as their opponent in the semi-finals.
Mirandés were not an easy team, despite they were playing in the Segunda División. In their road to the semi-finals, they already kicked Celta Vigo, Sevilla and Villarreal out of the competition. In the first game of the cup tie, they left their home stadium, travelled to the Reale Arena to search for a positive outcome. After 90 minutes of intense battle, they merely lost 1-2 to the sixth of the first division.
In this tactical analysis, we will show you how Sociedad beat Mirandés. It is an analysis that focuses on tactics.
Lineups
Imanol Alguacil’s team played in a 4-1-4-1 formation. The manager treated this competition seriously as he played his key players. Comparing to their 4-3 win against Madrid, he made some changes. Andoni Gorosabel was suspended, Joseba Zaldúa played as the right-back. Adnan Januzaj stayed on the bench as Portu started ahead of him.
Mirandés’s manager Andoni Iraola only made two changes according to the last game. They still played in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but Antonio Sánchez was pushed to the attacking midfield position. Mickaël Malsa partnered with Jon Guridi as the defensive midfielders. For the left-back position, Gorka Kijera returned to the team and replaced Enric Franquesa.
Strategic press of Mirandés
When playing at Anduva, we saw Mirandés pressed strategically and spent efforts to mark the central midfielders. However, Iraola adjusted his tactics a bit in this cup tie, despite still defending in a 4-2-2-2 shape, their team had an extra job to do: force the ball wide.
They did that by not pressing the goalkeeper initially. When Sociedad kept the ball centrally, the main task of the Mirandés front two were to keep the opponents’ sole pivot (Igor Zubeldia) under control. They would not press the keeper, as they wanted Alex Remiro to choose either one centre-back to pass.
