With the 2021-22 La Liga season almost complete, many teams were battling it out for the European places for the 2022-23 season. Among these teams were Real Sociedad and Villarreal. Real Sociedad were hoping to secure 6th place by shutting off the Yellow Submarine who were just 3 points behind before kick-off.
Villarreal were looking to do the double over Real Sociedad this season, with Los Txuri-Urdin losing at the Reale Arena 1-3. However, with so much on the line and some tactical changes during and before the match, Real Sociedad were able to come back at the Estadio de la Cerámica to win 1-2.
This article will be a tactical analysis looking at the key tactics employed by Real Sociedad in their win that secured them Europa League football for the third season in a row.
Lineups
Both teams changed their personnel from their previous matches as the two sides were nursing injuries. Real Sociedad had fewer players missing with only Oyarzabal, still sidelined with a torn ACL, being a regular feature for Sociedad this season. This was a stark contrast to Villarreal who had four regulars sidelined for this match. Among the unavailable players were Danjuma and Gerard Moreno, both of which have been important players for Villarreal in attack with Moreno scoring two and assisting one goal in the reverse fixture.
In terms of formations, Villarreal returned to their trusted 4-4-2, while Real Sociedad kept their 4-3-1-2 formation from their previous match which they have used for the majority of the season. The formations were always going to be important to the tactics chosen in the match, with Real Sociedad naturally having a numerical advantage in the centre of the pitch. This saw Villarreal struggle to protect the centre of the pitch with them frequently being dragged out of position or man-marked out of the game.
As both sides began with a high press in the match, substitutions were key with the fresh legs of Rafinha Alcantara and Andoni Gorosabel helping Real Sociedad turn the tides in the second half. Villarreal also looked to respond with their changes, but there was no true impact on the result.
High press
It was evident from the first goal kick, that Real Sociedad were going to give Villarreal no time to build up play. Slow build-up play has been used regularly by Villarreal to open up the opposition looking for a killer pass to break the lines. With this in mind, Real Sociedad decided to cut off any passing lanes for Rulli in the Villarreal goal. To do this, Real Sociedad set up with Isak and Sørloth high and wide between the centre back and full back to cut off any progressive passing options as they were close enough to impact any passes to the defenders. With Real Sociedad having numerical superiority in midfield, they could go man-to-man with Capoue and Parejo, limiting Rulli to the long ball.
With Rulli having lots of time on the ball, the intent was to force a ball into Dia upfront for Villarreal. This had huge success for Real Sociedad as Villarreal were having little success completing a pass when the ball ended up at Rulli’s feet.
