The preservation of a status

The leap in quality that Real Sociedad has made in the last five years is unmistakable. The realistic team established itself as one of the top teams in the League, opening wide doors to the European scene, from which it remained dangerously far away; and I say dangerous because, as we have argued at other times, not having a presence in Europe today means no. If we look at the trajectory of the team since then Imanol Alguacil taken it, we can say that the evolution is clearly upward. The first participation in the Europa League ended with a deserved second place in the group stage, behind Naples, to fall in the round of 32 against Manchester United. The following year, they shared a place in the group stage with Monaco, only to fall in the next round against Leipzig. The third represents a clear step forward, with first place in the initial phase, ahead of Manchester United itself, which reached the round of 16 to surrender to Roma. The fourth already represents a decisive step forward, with a presence in the most important tournament, the Champions League, the jewel in the crown. And Imanol Alguacil’s team allows itself the license to go through the phase as group leader ahead of Inter. He then fell to the worst of possible rivals, PSG Luis Enrique and Mbappeand that’s where the adventure ends. This year, back to the Europa League with a new format, things did not go as well as expected, but the blue and whites have time to save the furniture, or maybe something better, before the end this competition. In the early games, Imanoldue to the team’s poor progress in the League, was forced to prioritize one competition at the expense of the other. Now that the direction of domestic competition has been corrected, it is time to measure Europe because, I insist and let no one be confused, it is not enough to be part of the ECA, but real support on the playing field is needed. .

Yes, by the way

Real’s scoring numbers at this point of the season aren’t exactly something to write home about (thirteenth place) is something that is obvious. However, the team Imanol occupying sixth place in the table. It is clear that the secret must be found in another section, and in fact, we can see it in the chapter of goals agreed: only 11 of 16 games, tied, no more and no less, than Atlético de Madrid, a real that prototype in these things. But the benefits of these numbers do not end there, because whatever can be deduced from them, there is a fully justified feeling that the rivals are doing very little damage to the team. You can defend very well but allow chances to the opponent or you can achieve the same analysis by minimizing the capacity.

2

Olasa, no noise

Olas He knows full well that he belongs (the coach won’t like it) to what we might call the squad’s B unit, with all that implies. But he is perhaps the footballer among the aforementioned group who knows best how to take advantage of his opportunities at the moment. The quiet cheetah, very “guipuzcoan”, kept knocking on the coach’s door.

3

Lobanovsky’s group

The team that will visit Anoeta tomorrow has nothing; It is none other and none less than Dynamo kyiv, the most successful team of the former Soviet Union and, of course, of the current Ukraine. He lived his golden age in the hands of the legendary Valery Lobanovsky in the 70s and 80s, won two European Cup Winners’ Cups. It is clear that this Dynamo is not the “Wolf”, but it commands respect