La Real stopped threatening on the outside

Real Sociedad is not the same now as in the first round. It’s clear. Not even at the beginning of 2023. It shows in many aspects, many of them were seen in San Mamés. And one of those factors is home performance. Or the decline in performance at home, rather. The San Sebastian team is no longer afraid at home. He went from being a scary danger and one of the best scoring points away from Anoeta, to chaining the worst streak of the season playing as a guest.

And it already has five consecutive matches without winning outside the Gipuzkoan borders in all competitions. Two consecutive defeats to Valencia and Rome, a draw to Mallorca, and another two defeats today to Villarreal and Bilbao. The bad streak does not stop there, because in the last eight outings there is only one win (2-3 in Cornellà against Espanyol) and two draws (merit 0-0 in the Bernabéu and the undeserved 1-1 in Mallorca).

exhausted

It all started with Barcelona lifting the cup after a titanic effort. The squad came from a plague of casualties, the highest course, and also had to play many minutes with 10 at the Camp Nou due to the self-expulsion of Brace Mendez. Tired and moved, the game gradually decreased. It is true that at the Bernabéu the team competed well and even had a chance to win, but already at Cornellà, despite the success and a great time playing in 4-3-3, worrying details were seen at the end . imanol He predicted that the lump would come, and it did. In the game, in physicality and in results. From there, poor and unknown versions in Valencia, Rome, Villarreal, Mallorca and Bilbao, despite the fact that in Son Moix they deserved to win and the referee took it away.

Before that all was glory in the house. La Real were terrible and scored ‘as if nothing had happened’. He chained a seven-game winning streak as a visitor from the victory in Nicosia to the assault in Vallecas, with World Cup and lower-level cup matches in between, yes.

blow to blow

Imanol Alguacil often commented that in the first round the team had poor play and success but inertia, strength of defense and enough efficiency to score one in every game kept the team adding three in three. Far from home showing. Blow for blow was devastating for a fragile Real at the back, giving away misunderstandings, space and chances, which is why they conceded goals so easily, but who couldn’t score even the single goal that almost ensured at the beginning of the season.

In six of their last eight outings, Real have yet to score. A drama. Until Barcelona’s cup game, they had only been left at zero once, at Valladolid, in 15 away games. During that same streak he kept a clean sheet just once, for nine of 15 in the first stretch. It’s scary and it’s a wall, not now and the hardest part remains: Camp Nou, Sadar, Villamarín and Metropolitano.