nine out of ten

It’s hard to get away from the noise generated by Real Sociedad’s results this season that just ended. Now it can be said out loud, which until last week was only expressed in low voices and in very close groups: not getting the ticket for the Champions League, as before, is almost considered, and I repeat, almost , seems like a small failure.

I remember Take Kubostill missing a few days for the resolution of the season, which strongly indicates that the Champions League is the goal of this team, that and nothing else.

And deep down, although they are a little afraid to say it, most of us have thought. Of course, no one wants to underestimate a hypothetical qualification for the Europa League, as in the three previous seasons, but this Real held the glory of the most important continental competition with their hands, and that opportunity, unfortunately -palad, Not showing up as often as we’d all like. It’s not now or never, but it looks suspiciously like it.

and the group of Imanol Bailiff He achieved it, signing another page in the history of this club. And the exercise, now that the time has come for the reviews, I think it can be estimated as brilliant, and if we have to express it in numbers, I think 9 out of one outstanding is the most appropriate. And I base my opinion time on my own words imanol in his final press conference of the season when he was asked about the roof of this team; his answer could not be more sincere: “we are very close to the ceiling of this group”.

It means, in other words, that in the current context, little else can be achieved, except to be as close as possible to the three largest national competitions in the country. Because it’s true that Real can occasionally beat these rivals, but over the long term, it’s almost impossible. Continuing this challenge may be the roadmap for this team for years to come, but it’s already over nine out of ten.

AND REALLY CRITICIZES THE GLOVE

The Liga in its last 11 years has registered, without any variation, an almost unchanged reporting of the three leading clubs in the competition par excellence, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético. In all that time, there has not been a single team capable of interpreting a dissonant note, which would question the hegemony of the “Big Three”. And that’s the data it supports imanol his theory that stealing between them was an almost impossible task, in the present state of affairs.

That is why, since the Champions League opened its series of admissions in fourth place in the League, that position has become the undefined desire of a whole series of “seconds”, said in no diminish its harmful meaning. And during the eleven-year period that we took as reference, teams like Sevilla, Villarreal or Valencia tasted the sweet taste of the European purple granted by the biggest tournament. So, after the Seville team seemed to appropriate that honor in its own right for the last three seasons, things went wrong this year, and fourth place immediately demanded a replacement, and there was La Real to take the gloves.

BUT WHERE DID YOU SEE IT?

…And this is not the first time this has happened! At the end of the last press conference of the season of imanol, Oriotarra went down from the journalists’ position to hug all the colleagues who were there one by one -I think he even hugged the Japanese colleagues who had been with us the whole time-, after thanking the press for the usual treatment in him. But where was it found?

A WORLD CUP SHIRT

As soon as the new dress for the next season was announced, apart from the complex explanations of the authors of the design -you need a course to understand them- there seems to be an agreement when it comes to finding some links to the national team jacket Argentina , reigning world champion. As a reference it’s not bad at all!

DID YOU KNOW…?

-The top 3 or the starting podium this season at Real consists, in this order: Remiro (50), Zubimendi (42) and Le Normand (39).

-Last season (2021-2022), the first place went to Le Normand (48), with Remiro and Merino tied at 42 starts in second grade.

-For newbies to the team, Brace is the most mentioned of Imanol Bailiff in the starting eleven (38 times), followed by Take Kubo (34) and Momo Cho (7).