La Liga 2019/20: Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad – tactical analysis

As we are heading towards the mid-stage of the first half of the La Liga season, the race to a spot in the European competitions is getting more intensive than ever. Besides the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, the chance is spread equally among the rest. Real Sociedad was one of the teams that are currently running for a place in the top six and they aimed to solidify their expectation by securing a positive result on their trip to the Santiago Bernabéu.

Real Madrid were hoping to continue their impressive form since their 1-0 loss against Mallorca at the end of October. It would also help them caught up with Barcelona and maintained their status of 25 points. On the opposite side, Real Sociedad enjoyed a great start to the season after a decent summer which saw Alexander Isak, Martin Ødegaard and Portu arrived at the Anoeta. After starting off with four wins and a draw in their first six matches, they showed signs of slowing down but also hoped to turn their fortune around.

Unfortunately, Real Madrid proved to be quite a tough opponent for Imanol Alguacil’s side as Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and Luka Modrić’s goals kept three points at the Santiago Bernabéu. This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will point out what went wrong for Alguacil’s tactics against Zinedine Zidane’s tactics.

Lineups

With the advantage of playing at home, Zidane lined his side up in a 4-3-3 formation along with several key absences. Lucas Vázquez was confirmed to be on the team’s injury list after he suffered a toe injury, while another winger in Marco Asensio was also absented from the squad list as the Spaniard continued his recovery from a knee injury.

On the bench, Marcelo and Toni Kroos joined the side as their place was occupied by Ferland Mendy and Federico Valverde respectively. The Uruguayan midfielder enjoyed quite a successful spell stepping into the starting lineup after scoring his first goal for Real Madrid against Eibar and there was no doubt that he would want to continue his impressive form.

Meanwhile, Real Sociedad set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with former Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Álex Remiro stood in goal. Martin Ødegaard managed to shake off his recent problems of an ankle injury to occupy the attacking midfielder position, playing just behind striker Willian José.

Joseba Zaldúa and Portu all went through the late fitness test to involve in the game, specifically filling in the two positions on the right-hand side. Mikel Merino also came back into the starting lineup as he paired up alongside Igor Zubeldía as central midfielders. A player who would have involved in their trip to the Bernabéu was Asier Illarramendi as he was absent on his return through an ankle injury.

Real Sociedads style of play

Travelling to Bernabéu wasn’t an easy task and Sociedad knew that. But instead of sitting back and deployed a negative attitude both on and off the ball, the visitor opted to do what they have done best and made the most out of their strengths. In possession, Sociedad players tended to build their attacks starting from the back-line using the passing ability of Diego Llorente and Aritz Elustondo.

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