European alarms sounded in Anoeta. With a heavy defeat against Viktoria Plzen (2-1), Real Sociedad is in trouble to, at least, qualify for the play-off positions. What can we say about being among the first eight classified, which is seen almost as a chimera for Imanol’s team.
The txuri-urdin is twenty-five with only four units, really poor numbers corresponding to the poor football performance they offer in the eyes of the spectators of the old continent. They managed just one win, against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade, and from the other games they added just one point against Nice. Doubts grow when they lose two matches against rivals, a priori inferior, such as Anderlecht and the Victoria Pilsen. And the people of Imanol know that in the corner there are two coconuts stretched out. Ajax is second in European Leagueafter scoring five goals against Maccabi Tel Aviv and will visit Anoeta on November 28 full of confidence.
On the final day of this group stage, Imanol’s team will face a tough one to break. The laziocurrent leader of the qualifying table, will host Txuri-Urdin on January 23, and it seems a suicide mission to play for a place in the next round of the Europa League against the best placed team.
That is why they are obliged to win against the Dynamo Kyiv and PAOK. The Ukrainians are at the bottom and the Greeks occupy the 33rd place in the standings. Emergencies make success mandatory, at least against an a priori inferior rival.
Every goal counts
In previous editions, Real competed with three other rivals in the group stage, but now, no matter how many teams play eight games, they compete with 35 other teams. This means that the point difference will be narrowed significantly and many teams will finish the group stage in disarray, so scoring as many goals as possible is essential to achieve the goals. One aspect in which Real are not very buoyant. For the purpose of Oskarsson in Pilsenthe Gipuzkoan team scored its fifth goal in this edition, but got six, giving a negative balance of one goal. Although the difference with their main rivals who are in a higher position is not excessive, the teams want Slavia Prague (23rd), the Port (22nd), Rome (20th) o Hoffenheim (19th), with a coefficient of 0, that is, both goals recorded as received, and the Victoria Pilsen (16th), the Manchester United (15th) or the Ferencváros (14th), among other classifieds, has positive coefficients.
Real Sociedad has an average of 1.3 goals per game, with an expected number of goals of 1.39, that is, they should have more goals than they register, so that the data does not give optimism about in the Imanol scoring section.
It should also be noted that play-off pairings are conducted according to classification. The ninth classified will play against twenty-four, the tenth against twenty-three and so on. So, finishing in a high position means avoiding a theoretical favorite to advance to the next round in a life or death matchup.
Imanol’s students are obliged to win the following battles, as the road narrows and the obstacles grow.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
