Losing 0-2 at Sociedad in round 33, Real helped Barca have the opportunity to win La Liga in the next round.
Final result Sociedad vs Real Madrid (2-0)
Score: Kubo (47′); Barrnetxea (85′)
Red card: Carvajal (Real Madrid, 61′)
Real now has 68 points, behind Barca – the team that won Osasuna 1-0 in the early game – to 14 points, when the season has five rounds left. Ancelotti’s teachers and students will officially become the former king, if Barca wins on the club ground in the same city of Espanyol in round 34 on May 14.
Even Real risks losing second place tonight, if Atletico defeat Cadiz at the Metropolitano home field. The army under Diego Simeone currently has 66 points, only two points behind Real.
Yesterday, Real marched to Anoeta Stadium without a series of pillars including Luka Modric, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, Karim Benzema and Vinicius. In addition to the reason for the injury exam this weekend, Los Blancos also play the final of the King’s Cup, the opportunity for them to get the title should coach Ancelotti be forced to have a calculation.
The visitors played well for the first ten minutes, with two chances from Aurelien Tchouameni’s long shot and Eder Militao’s header. Both times, goalkeeper Alex Remiro pushed the ball to rescue.
After that, Sociedad gradually controlled the game and got ahead at the beginning of the second half thanks to the opponent’s mistake. In the 47th minute, Militao returned to the wrong position of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, creating conditions for Takefusa Kubo to finish in an empty net.
In the summer of 2019, Kubo was recruited by Real for $ 2.2 million from FC Tokyo. However, the Japanese star did not have the opportunity to play for Real’s first team, when respectively wearing Mallorca, Villarreal, Getafe and Mallorca on loan in the past three seasons. In the summer of 2022, he was sold by Real to Sociedad and became the first Japanese player to sign a contract with this club.
In La Liga this season, Kubo scored eight goals in 30 games for Sociedad. This is the best record by a Japanese player in a single season in La Liga, and more than the total number of goals he has scored in the previous four seasons (six in 94 games).
In the 61st minute, Real also had to play without people when Dani Carvajal entered the ball dangerously with Aihen Munoz in the middle of the field. The Spain defender then dropped into the dressing room and posted on Instagram Story a smiley emoji to protest the referee’s decision. Spanish newspaper Marca criticized this move of Carvajal because then, the match was not over.
Taking advantage of the advantage, Sociedad sealed the victory in the 85th minute with a shot from the near corner of the substitute striker Ander Barrnetxea. Incumbent Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil has picked up 12 points from nine matches against Real in La Liga, with three wins, three draws and four losses. This is the best record for a coach against Real since the 2018-2019 La Liga season, with the previous best record going to Paco Lopez – who won ten points from three wins, one draw and three losses.
Sociedad vs Real Madrid lineup
Sociedad: Remiro; Munoz, Le Normand, Zubeldia (Pacheco 64), Gorosabel (Elustondo 63); Silva (Illarramendi 89), Zubimendi, Merino; Oyarzabal, Sorloth (Fernandez 74), Kubo (Barrenetxea 74).
Real Madrid: Courtois; Nacho, Rudiger, Militao, Carvajal; Kroos (Vazquez 63), Tchouameni, Ceballos; Rodrygo, Diaz (Rodriguez 59), Asensio (Arribas 82).