La Liga Recap: Round 20

Real Madrid 3-0 Real Sociedad

Lineups:

Real Madrid: Navas; Danilo, Varane, Ramos, Nacho; Kovačić, Casemiro, Kroos; Vázquez, Benzema, Ronaldo. (4-3-3)

Real Sociedad: Rulli; Zaldúa, Martínez, Navas, Rodrigues; Zurutuza, Illarramendi, Canales; Juanmi, William José, Oyarzabal. (4-3-3)

After a being eliminated by RC Celta de Vigo on Copa del Rey, Real Madrid came back to the Santiago Bernabéu with enough motivation to get a win while knowing that FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC tied and lost their games respectively.

Real Madrid are facing a tough moment in terms of health issues — Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Daniel Carvajal, Luka Modrić and James Rodríguez are injured. This issue has forced Zinedine Zidane to experiment with the lineup. In January, they have varied between their traditional 4-3-3 scheme and a peculiar — for them — 3-4-3 scheme. They have still looked better when playing with a four-player backline.

In front they had Real Sociedad, a team that is having one of their best season in years under the guidance of Eusebio Sacristán. He had been able to establish a winning culture, and more importantly, an identity in their style of play. Real Sociedad deploy a positional style of play both on offense and defense through a 4-3-3 scheme. Everybody participates on both offensive and defensive tasks.

Real Sociedad started this game aggressively. They exploited the wings perfectly through Juanmi and Mikel Oyarzabal. Both players beat easily his markers on every offensive transition. Both Danilo and Nacho were outplayed by these two wingers on one-on-one situations.

Real Madrid looked weak on every line of the pitch. Every time that they tried to create chances through the interiors, the triple threat of David Zurutuza, Asier Illarramendi and Sergio Canales reduced spaces and put pressure on the ball holder to provoke the error. It was only through the feet of Lucas Vázquez that Real Madrid could cause some danger to Real Sociedad. Vázquez constantly passed over Kévin Rodrigues through dribbles and quick long crosses.

The individual talent of their players is what have saved Real Madrid’s lack of collective-playmaking clarity. This game was not an exception. In the 38th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo made a great assist to Mateo Kovačić while being under the pressure of three Real Sociedad players in front of him. He sent the pass to Kovačić, who drove the ball long enough to find his balance and beat Gerónimo Rulli.

Even tough Real Madrid scored the goal first, they could not take control of the game. Real Sociedad kept playing their game in the same way patiently: great ball movement, triangulations, high pressure and quick ball-recovery.

It was early in the second half that Real Madrid surprised Real Sociedad on a counter-attack. Kovačić returned the favor to Ronaldo by assisting him. Ronaldo switched positions with Karim Benzema to drive the ball as a center forward and scored a short chip shot.

Ronaldo’s goal changed the momentum of the game. Suddenly Real Sociedad could not find their game anymore. It was like a psychological punch for the visitors. Something that also helped Real Madrid to close out the game was the defensive solidity of their midfield — especially from Kovačić and Casemiro. Both players always anticipated to every decision that their rivals made through that part of the pitch.

With less than 10 minutes on the clock, Real Madrid made another fantastic counter-attack started by Ronaldo. He drove the ball through the middle and passed it to Danilo, so the Brazilian could find Vázquez on the right wing. Vázquez sent a beautiful long pass to Álvaro Morata for the header.

For some people, it will probably be weird to hear that a team that won 3-0 did not play well. That is why soccer is maybe the most unpredictable sport in the world. Real Madrid keep depending too much on their individual talent and still have not showed consistency on their collective play. Injuries are one of the issues. It will be interesting how this team plays when everyone gets healthy.

On Real Sociedad’s side, it is important for this team to be calm and believe in the system. This is one of the most developed teams in the league. They still have enough time to fight for Champions League places.